Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

A possible physical mechanism of the torque generation of the bacterial flagellar motor

View ORCID ProfileY. C. Chou
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.09.901124
Y. C. Chou
Department of Physics, National TsingHua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Y. C. Chou
  • For correspondence: ycchou@phys.nthu.edu.tw
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

The torque required for the rotation of the rotor of a bacterial flagellar motor (BFM) can be generated from an impulsive force resulting from the collision between the stator and the rotor. The asymmetry in the fluctuations of the tilting angle of the rotor determines the direction of rotation. The expressions of the torque and the step size can be derived from a Langevin equation of motion. The drag coefficient of BFM derived from the Langevin equation and the measured torque–speed (τ-ω) relation is notably high; the viscous force from the environment cannot account for it. The drag force may be caused by the frictional interaction between the bearing-like L- and P-rings of BFM and the cell membrane. Order-of-magnitude estimations of the torque and the step size are consistent with previous experimental observations. The slope of the linear dependence of the rotational frequency on the temperature was estimated and was consistent with the observed value. A simulation device having the structural characteristics of BFM was designed to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed mechanism. Many observations for the actual BFM, such as the bidirectional rotation and the τ-ω relations of the clockwise and counterclockwise rotations, were reproduced in the simulation experiments.

Importance The concept that the torque required for the rotation of the rotor of a bacterial flagellar motor (BFM) can be generated from an impulsive force resulting from the collision between the stator and the rotor is new and effective. The magnitude of the torque and the size of the step derived from the proposed mechanism are consistent with the observed values. The torque-speed (τ-ω) relation might be explained by the frequency-dependent drag force caused by the frictional interaction between the bearing-like L- and P-rings of BFM and the cell membrane. The slope of the linear dependence of the rotational frequency on the temperature is consistent with the observed value, which has not been achieved previously.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted January 10, 2020.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
A possible physical mechanism of the torque generation of the bacterial flagellar motor
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
A possible physical mechanism of the torque generation of the bacterial flagellar motor
Y. C. Chou
bioRxiv 2020.01.09.901124; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.09.901124
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
A possible physical mechanism of the torque generation of the bacterial flagellar motor
Y. C. Chou
bioRxiv 2020.01.09.901124; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.09.901124

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Biophysics
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4243)
  • Biochemistry (9173)
  • Bioengineering (6806)
  • Bioinformatics (24064)
  • Biophysics (12157)
  • Cancer Biology (9565)
  • Cell Biology (13825)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7659)
  • Ecology (11737)
  • Epidemiology (2066)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15544)
  • Genetics (10672)
  • Genomics (14362)
  • Immunology (9515)
  • Microbiology (22906)
  • Molecular Biology (9130)
  • Neuroscience (49144)
  • Paleontology (358)
  • Pathology (1487)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2584)
  • Physiology (3851)
  • Plant Biology (8351)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1473)
  • Synthetic Biology (2301)
  • Systems Biology (6206)
  • Zoology (1303)