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PubMed1975

On the stimulation of the light-induced proton uptake by uncoupling aminoacridine derivatives in spinach chloroplasts.

1. Light-induced proton uptake by spinach chloroplasts is enhanced several-fold by 9-(4-diethylamino-1-methylbutylamino)-6-chloro-2-methoxyacridine (atebrin). This stimulation does not depend on the chlorophyll concentration. The amount of extra protons taken up in the presence of atebrin is determined by the pKa values of atebrin and the pH of the incubation medium. 2. Both the stimulation of the proton uptake and the maximal binding capacity for atebrin is sensitive to uncouplers. However, the ratio of bound to free atebrin does not depend on the presence of uncoupler up to the saturating atebrin concentration. 3. From simultanious kinetic measurements of atebrin fluorescence and proton movement it seems that after binding of the completely protonated atebrin the dye and the protons can move separately. This can also be inferred from the spectral behaviour of atebrin in illuminated chloroplasts. 4. The stimulation of the proton uptake by atebrin does not depend on the presence of salts in the incubation medium. However, the 'saturating' atebrin concentration increases strongly with increasing salt concentration in the medium. 5. It is concluded that the interaction of atebrin and other acridines with energized chloroplasts most likely occurs at the level of the membrane proper. 6. It is proposed that uncoupling by atebrin is a consequence of the creation of a high proton activity at the periphery of the thylakoid membrane, which opposes a proton gradient across the membrane. The uncoupling by atebrin is not of the protonophoric type according to this mechanism.

Anilides↗
PubMed1978

Proton-translocating cytochrome c oxidase in artificial phospholipid vesicles.

The proton translocating properties of cytochrome c oxidase have been studied in artificial phospholipid vesicles into the membranes of which the isolated and purified enzyme was incorporated. Initiation of oxidation of ferrocytochrome c by addition of the cytochrome, or by addition of oxygen to an anaerobic vesicle suspension, leads to ejection of H+ from the vesicles provided that charge compensation is permitted by the presence of valinomycin and K+. Proton ejection is not observed if the membranes have been specifically rendered permeable to protons. The proton ejection is the result of true translocation of H+ across the membrane as indicated by its dependence on the intravesicular buffering power relative to the number of particles (electrons and protons) transferred by the system, and since it can be shown not to be due to a net formation of acid in the system. Comparison of the initial rates of proton ejection and oxidation of cytochrome c yields a H+/e- quotient close to 1.0 both in cytochrome c and oxygen pulse experiments. An approach towards the same stoichiometry is found by comparison of the extents of proton ejection and electron transfer under appropriate experimental conditions. It is concluded that cytochrome c oxidase is a proton pump, which conserves redox energy by converting it into an electrochemical proton gradient through electrogenic translocation of H+.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed1978

Magnetic cross-relaxation among protons in protein solutions.

The magnetic spin-lattice relaxation rates of solvent water nuclei are known to increase upon addition of diamagnetic solute protein. This enhancement of the relaxation rate is a function of magnetic field, and the orientational relaxation time of the protein molecules can be deduced from analysis of the field-dependent relaxation rates. Although the nature of the interactions that convey information about the dynamics of protein motion to the solvent molecules is not established, it is known that there is a contribution to the relaxation rates of solvent protons that plays no role in the relaxation of solvent deuterons and 17O nuclei. We show here that the additional interaction arises from a cross-relaxation process between solvent and solute protons. We introduce a heuristic three-parameter model in which protein protons and solvent protons are considered as two separate thermodynamic systems that interact across the protein-solvent interface. The three parameters are the intrinsic relaxation rates of each system and a cross-relaxation term. The sign of the latter term must always be positive, for all values of magnetic field, in order for magnetization energy to flow from the hotter to the cooler system. We find that the magnetic field-dependence of the cross-relaxation contribution is much like that of the remaining solvent proton relaxation, i.e., about the same as the deuteron relaxation field dependence. This finding is not compatible with the predictions of expressions for the cross-relaxation that have been used by other authors, but not applied to data over a wide range of magnetic field strength. The model predicts that the relaxation behavior of both the protein protons and the solvent protons is the sum of two exponentials, the relative contributions of which would vary with protein concentration and solvent isotopic composition in a fashion suggestive of the presence of two classes of protein protons, when there is in reality only one. This finding has immediate implications for the interpretation of published proton relaxation rates in complex systems such as tissues; these data should be reexamined with cross-relaxation taken into account.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1978

A hydrogen-deuterium exchange study of the amide protons of polymyxin B by nuclear-magnetic-resonance spectroscopy.

1. Proton magnetic resonance spectra at 270 MHz of polymyxin B, a cationic oligopeptide antibiotic, show the influence of the inorganic counteranion present in solution. 2. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange rates for the amide protons are of two types, depending on whether the anion is monovalent or polyvalent. Polyvalent anions catalyse the acid-catalysed reaction more than the monovalent anions. 3. The structure in solution was monitored using the proton signals of the amides, the phenylalanine aromatic protons, and the leucine methyl and gamma-CH protons in several polymyxin salts. The temperature coefficients of the chemical shifts of the N-H protons are used to identify two beta turns in the cyclic ring of polymyxin B. The variation in chemical shift of the N-H protons, the aromatic protons and the leucine protons are correlated with anionic size and electronegativity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1978

Method for isolation of Escherichia coli mutants with defects in the proton-translocating sector of the membrane adenosine triphosphatase complex.

A technique for selecting mutants of Escherichia coli in which the proton-translocating sector of the adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) complex has been inactivated is reported. The procedure uses a strain of E. coli (NR-70) lacking the extrinsic (F1) sector of the ATPase complex and which in consequently permeable to protons (B. P. Rosen, J. Bacteriol. 116:1124--1129, 1973). After growing strain NR-70 under noninducing conditions for the lac operon, cells were mutagenized and plated on minimal medium containing low concentrations of lactose. Several mutants of strain NR-70 were isolated as large colonies on these plates, apparently because they could concentrate lactose more efficiently. A description of one of the mutants, strain KW-1, is reported here. The most distinguishing difference in growth properties of the two strains was that, when transferred to medium containing low concentrations of lactose, strain KW-1 induced the lac operon with a shorter lag time than strain NR-70. The mutation in strain KW-1 leading to more rapid growth on lactose was cotransducible with the asn and unc loci, at 83 min on the E. coli genetic map. Intact cells of strain KW-1 actively transported L-proline as well as did wild-type cells, whereas cells of strain NR-70 were markedly deficient in L-proline transport. The improvement in the transport capacity of strain KW-1 correlated with a marked decrease in proton permeability relative to that of strain NR-70. Based on an acid-base pulse technique that measured the proton conductance of the membranes of intact cells, strain NR-70 was at least 10 times more permeable to protons than was the wild type, whereas strain KW-1 was only 2 times more permeable. The transport properties and proton conductance were also compared with membrane vesicles prepared by osmotic shock. With either D-lactate or ascorbate-N-methylphenazonium methosulfate as respiratory substrates, vesicles of strain KW-1 transported L-proline much more rapidly than did vesicles of strain NR-70, but still at rates less rapid than those of the wild type. The passive proton conductance of the membrane vesicles was quantitated by measuring the rate of H+ influx into vesicles in response to a valinomycin-generated K+ diffusion potential. The proton permeability of vesicles of strain KW-1 was reduced 1.5-fold relative to vesicles of strain NR-70, but these vesicles were still four times more permeable to protons than was the wild type. Vesicles of strain KW-1 corresponded to wild-type vesicles treated with 0.5 micrometer carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) and vesicles of strain NR-70 corresponded to wild-type vesicles treated with 1.4 micrometer CCCP. Treatment of wild-type vesicles with these concentrations of CCCP caused decreases in transport comparable to those observed in the mutants. Strain KW-1 lacked ATPase activity. Cross-reacting material to F1-ATPase was not found in strain KW-1 by double immunodiffusion analysis.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1976

A simple, quantitative approach to the coupling of photophosphorylation to electron flow in terms of proton fluxes.

A simple relationship between observed phosphorylation efficiencies (P/e ratios) and internal proton concentration in spinach chloroplast thylakoids has been derived. P/e ratios, varked by either changing the light intensity or by adding the energy transfer inhibitor, 4'-deoxyphlorizin, were found to change with internal proton concentration in accordance with this relationship. A quantitative prediction of the effect of uncouplers on the P/e ratio can probably also be made. By extrapolation of plots of observed P/e ratios against internal proton concentration divided by the overall rate of electron flow, a maximum intrinsic P/e of about 0.66 is obtained. Assuming that two protons appear inside thylakoids per electron transferred, a P/e ratio of 0.66 suggests that three internal protons are consumed for each ATP formed. Internal protons may be considered to be substrates for the phosphorylation reaction. Hill plots of phosphorylation rate vs. internal proton concentration also indicate that three protons are consumed for each ATP synthesized. Thus, the H+ concentration gradient behaves quantitatively, as well as qualitatively, as if it is the connecting link between electron flow and phosphorylation in illuminated thylakoids.

Chloroplasts↗
PubMed1979

Biological amine transport in chromaffin ghosts. Coupling to the transmembrane proton and potential gradients.

The effect of the transmembrane proton gradient (delta pH) and potential gradient (delta psi) upon the rate and extent of amine accumulation was investigated in chromaffin ghosts. The chromaffin ghosts were formed by hypo-osmotic lysis of isolated bovine chromaffin granules and extensive dialysis in order to remove intragranular binding components and dissipate the endogenous electrochemical gradients. Upon ATP addition to suspensions of chromaffin ghosts, a transmembrane proton gradient alone, a transmembrane gradient alone, or both, could be established, depending upon the compositions of the media in which the ghosts were formed and resuspended. When chloride was present in the medium, addition of ATP resulted in the generation of a transmembrane proton gradient, acidic inside of 1 pH unit (measured by [14C]methylamine distribution), and no transmembrane potential (measured by [14C]-thiocyanate distribution). When ATP was added to chromaffin ghosts suspended in a medium in which chloride was substituted by isethionate, a transmembrane potential, inside positive, of 45 mV and no transmembrane proton gradient, was measured. In each medium, the addition of agents known to affect proton or potential gradients, respectively, exerted a predictable mechanism of action. Accumulation of [14C]epinephrine or [14C]5-hydroxytryptamine was over 1 order of magnitude greater in the presence of the transmembrane proton gradient or the transmembrane potential than in the absence of any gradient and, moreover, was related to the magnitude of the proton or potential gradient in a dose-dependent manner. When ghosts were added to a medium containing chloride and isethionate, both a delta pH and delta psi could be generated upon addition of ATP. In this preparation, the maximal rate of amine accumulation was observed. The results indicate that amine accumulation into chromaffin ghosts can occur in the presence of either a transmembrane proton gradient, or a transmembrane potential gradient, and that the maximal rate of accumulation may exist when both components of the protonmotive force are present.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1976

Light-driven proton translocations in Halobacterium halobium.

The purple membrane of Halobacterium halobium acts as a light-driven proton pump, ejecting protons from the cell interior into the medium and generating electrochemical proton gradient across the cell membrane. However, the type response of cells to light as measured with a pH electrode in the medium consists of an initial net inflow of protons which subsides and is then replaced by a net outflow which exponentially approaches a new lower steady state pH level. When the light turned off a small transient acidification occurs before the pH returns to the original dark level. We present experiments suggesting that the initial inflow of protons is triggered by the beginning ejection of protons through the purple membrane and that the initial inflow rate is larger than the continuing light-driven outflow. When the initial inflow has decreased exponentially to a small value, the outflow dominates and causes the net acidification of the medium. The initial inflow is apparently driven by a pre-existing electrochemical gradient across the membrane, which the cells can maintain for extended times in the absence of light and oxygen. Treatments which collapse this gradient such as addition of small concentrations of uncouplers abolish the initial inflow. The triggered inflow occurs through the ATPase and is accompanied by ATP synthesis. Inhibitors of the ATPase such as N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) inhibit ATP synthesis and abolish the inflow. They also abolish the transient light-off acidification, which is apparently caused by a short burst of ATP hydrolysis before the enzyme is blocked by its endogenous inhibitor. Similar transient inflows and outflows of protons are also observed when anaerobic cells are exposed to short oxygen pulses.

Bacteriorhodopsins↗
PubMed1979

Studies on the proton transport at system II in trypsin-treated spinach chloroplasts.

The proton transport coupled with the DCMU-insensitive oxygen evolution mediated by K3[Fe(CN)6] in trypsin-treated chloroplasts (Renger, G. (1976) FEBS Lett. 69, 225--230) has been investigated with the aid of the pH indicator bromcresol purple. It was found that (1) the proton uptake from the outer aqueous phase observed in normal chloroplasts is completely suppressed by mild trypsin treatment; (2) a rather slow proton release into the external phase is detected which is insensitive to DCMU; (3) in the presence of DCMU, the extent of the proton release depends on the incubation time with trypsin in a similar manner as the average oxygen yield per flash. The results are interpreted by the assumption, that: (i) the reduced primary electron acceptor of System II, X 320-, does not become protonated, and (ii) the external acidification is caused by a passive efflux of protons, which are released by the watersplitting enzyme system Y into the inner phase of the thylakoids. The pK value of X 320- in trypsinated chloroplasts is estimated to be below 4.5. A possible pK shift caused by a modification of the proteinaceous barrier, which earlier (Renger, G. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 440, 287--300) was postulated to cover up the primary electron acceptor X 320, is discussed. Furthermore, the watersplitting enzyme system Y is inferred to be sensitive to deletereous attack from the outer aqueous phase mainly by secondary structural effects. Trypsination does not change the direction of the proton release in system Y.

Chloroplasts↗
PubMed1975

Succinate uptake and related proton movements in Escherichia coli K12.

1. The apparent Km values for succinate uptake by whole cells of Escherichia coli K12 depend on pH in the range 6.5-7.4.2. Uptake of succinate in lightly buffered medium is accompanied by proton uptake. 3. The apparent Km values for succinate uptake and for succinate-induced proton uptake are similar. 4. Approximately two protons enter the cell with each succinate molecule. 5. The pattern of inhibition of succinate uptake is similar to that of succinate-induced proton uptake. 6. Uptake of fumarate and malate, which share the succinate-transport system, is also accompanied by the uptake of approximately two protons per molecule of fumarate or malate. 7. Uptake of aspartate by the dicarboxylic acid-transport system is accompanied by the uptake of approximatley two protons per molecule of asparatate. 8. It is concluded that uptake of dicarboxylic acids by the dicarboxylic acid-transport system is obligatorily coupled to proton uptake such that succinate, malate and fumarate are taken up in electroneutral form and asparate is taken up in cationic form. 9. These results are consistent with, though they do not definitely prove, the energization of succinate uptake of the deltapH.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed1978

The microbial metabolism of Cl compounds. The stoicheiometry of respiration-driven proton translocation in Pseudomonas AM1 and in a mutant lacking cytochrome c.

This paper clarifies the role of cytochrome c in Pseudomonas AM1 by measuring the stoicheiometry of proton translocation driven by respiration of endogenous or added substrates in wild-type bacteria and in a mutant lacking cytochrome c (mutant PCT76). The maximum -->H(+)/O ratio (protons translocated out of the bacteria per atom of oxygen consumed during respiration) was about 4 and, except when respiration was markedly affected, this ratio was similar in mutant and wild-type bacteria. The -->H(+)/O ratios were unaltered when the usual oxidase (cytochrome a(3)) was inhibited by 300mum-KCN and respiration involved the single cytochrome b functioning as an alternative oxidase. Ratios measured in cells respiring endogenous substrate and in cells loaded with malate or 3-hydroxybutyrate suggest that there are two proton-translocating segments operating during the oxidation of NADH. By contrast, during oxidation of formaldehyde or methylamine only one pair of protons is translocated. Proton translocation could not be measured with methanol as substrate, because its oxidation was inhibited (90-95%) by 5mm-KSCN. It is tentatively proposed that the electron-transport chain for NADH oxidation in Pseudomonas AM1 is arranged such that the NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase forms one proton-translocating segment and the second segment consists of ubiquinone and cytochromes b and a/a(3). The cytochrome c appears to be essential only for respiration and proton translocation from methanol (and possibly from methylamine); there is no conclusive evidence that cytochrome c ever mediates between cytochromes b and a/a(3) in Pseudomonas AM1.

Cyanides↗
PubMed1977

Obligatory coupling between proton entry and the synthesis of adenosine 5'-triphosphate in Streptococcus lactis.

Proton influx was measured after imposition of an electrochemical potential difference for protons (delta muH+) across the cell membrane of the anaerobe, Streptococcus lactis. As delta muH+ was increased, there was an approximately parallel increase in proton entry, until delta muH+ attained 175 to 200 mV. At this point, a new pathway became available for proton entry, allowing an abrupt increase in both the rate and extent of H+ influx. This gated response depended upon the value of delta muH+ itself, and not upon the value of either the membrane potential or the pH gradient. For delta muH+ above 175 to 200 mV, elevated proton entry occurred only in cells having a functional membrane-bound Ca2+-stimulated, Mg2+stimulated adenosine 5'-triphosphatase (EC 3.6.1.3). When present, elevated proton entry coincided with the appearance of net synthesis of adenosine 5'-triphosphate catalyzed by this adenosine 5'-triphosphatase. These observations demonstrate that membrane-bound adenosine 5'-triphosphatase catalyzes an obligatory coupling between the inward movement of protons and synthesis of adenosine 5'-triphosphate.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1979

The effect of cytochrome P-450cam on the NMR relaxation rate of water protons.

Cytochrome P-450cam in the native, substrate-free state (Fe3+, S = 1/2) substantially reduces the NMR relaxation times, T1 and T2, of water protons. Temperature and frequency dependences of T1 and T2 were measured; they are consistent with a model of one or two protons exchanging between a binding site on a heme ligand and bulk water. The relevant parameters of this model have been deduced from the data. The spin relaxation time of the heme iron, tau S similar to 0.5 ns at 25 degrees C, is unusually long for a low spin ferric heme protein but is compatible with the line widths measured for paramagnetically shifted heme resonances. The proton residence time on the ligand, tau M similar to 1 microsecond at 25 degrees C, follows an Arrhenius law with activation energy EM similar to 15 kcal/mol. A scalar hyperfine interaction A/h = 2.2 MHz (3.1 MHz for one-proton exchange) of the found proton(s) with the heme iron is deduced from the difference between T1 and T2 observed in the fast exchange limit. The iron-proton distance is found to be 2.9 A (2.6 A for one-proton exchange). Variation of pH between pH 6.4 and 8.6 does not affect T1. The bearing of these results on the question of the axial heme ligand is discussed.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1976

On the mechanism of action of oligomycin and acidic uncouplers on proton translocation and energy transfer in "sonic" submitochondrial particles.

A study is presented of the effect of acidic uncouplers and oligomycin on energy-linked and passive proton translocation, oxidative phosphorylation, and energy-linked nicotinamide-adenine-nucleotide transhydrogenase in EDTA submitochondrial particles from beef-heart. A flow potentiometric technique has been applied to resolve the kinetics of the initial rapid phase of the redox proton pump. Rapid kinetics analysis shows that carbonyl-cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenyl-hydrazone (FCCP) does not exert any direct effect on redox-linked active proton transport. The uncoupling action of FCCP on oxidative phosphorylation and energy-linked transhydrogenase is shown to be quantitatively accounted for by its promoting effect of passive proton-diffusion across the mitochondrial membrane. Oligomycin depresses passive proton diffusion in EDTA sonic particles and this effect accounts for the coupling action exerted by the antibiotic on oxidative phosphorylation and energy-linked transhydrogenase. In fact, rapid kinetic analysis demonstrates that oligomycin does not directly affect the redox-linked proton pump. The present results show that there does not exist any labile intermediate in the redox-linked proton pump which is sensitive to acidic uncouplers.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Calcium transport driven by a proton gradient and inverted membrane vesicles of Escherichia coli.

Calcium transport into inverted vesicles of Escherichia coli was observed to occur without an exogenous energy source when an artificial proton gradient was used. The orientation of the proton gradient was acid inside and alkaline outside. Either phosphate or oxalate was necessary for transport, as was found for respiratory-driven or ATP-driven uptake (Tsuchiya, T., and Rosen, B.P. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 7687-7692). Phosphate accumulation was found to occur in conjunction with calcium accumulation. Calcium transport driven by an artificial proton gradient was stimulated by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, an inhibitor of the Mg2+ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3). Valinomycin, which catalyzes electrogenic potassium movement, stimulated calcium accumulation, while nigericin, which catalyzes electroneutral exchange of potassium and protons, inhibited both artificial proton gradient-driven transport and respiratory-driven transport. Other properties of the proton gradient-driven system and the previously reported energy-linked calcium transport system are similar, indicating that calcium is transported by the same carrier whether energy is supplied through an artificial proton gradient or an energized membrane state. These results suggest the existence of a calcium/proton antiport.

Biological Transport, Active↗
PubMed1979

Components and mechanism of action of ATP-driven proton pumps.

We have studied the composition of ATP-driven proton pumps from bovine heart mitochondria and have reconstituted the oligomycin-sensitive ATPase complex from its individual components. The complex contains 9 to 10 subunits of which 5 are assembled in the soluble F1 protein, 2 are required for the attachment of F1 to the membrane and 2 form the proton channel within the membrane. With the help of information obtained from studies of the chloroplast and the bacterial proton pumps, we can tentatively assign a function to each of the subunits of the pump. The position of F1 outside of the membrane seen in electron micrographs of negatively stained preparations, does not appear to be an artifact. Evidence from immunological studies, chemical derivatizations as well as further electron microscopy (positive staining and freeze-etching), support this statement. We describe in this paper a 28 000-dalton polypeptide which has been isolated from the mitochondria membrane and is required for the reconstitution of oligomycin-sensitive ATPase and 32Pi-ATP exchange activity. We propose a mechanism of action of the proton pump in which the key energy-yielding reaction is the binding of Mg2+ to the protein. The function of the proton gradient is to displace Mg2+ from this site to permit cyclic repetition of the binding process. Essential for this scheme is the cyclic opening and closing of the proton channel. We have outlined our present approaches to test this hypothesis.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1976

The proton transfer reactions catalyzed by yeast pyruvate kinase.

1. The proton-transfer reactions of yeast pyruvate kinase (EC 2.7.1.40) were studied. Proton-transfer from C-3 of phosphoenolpyruvate to water occurs only in the presence of the phosphoryl-acceptor ADP. Proton transfer from C-3 of pyruvate to water occurs only in the presence of ATP. However, the proton transfer in the latter case occurs 10-100 times faster than phosphoryl transfer; this supports a mechanism in which proton transfer precedes phosphoryl transfer in the reverse reaction of pyruvate kinase. 2. The characteristics of proton-transfer reactions of yeast pyruvate kinase were compared with those previously reported for rabbit muscle pyruvate kinase (Robinson, JL. and Rose, I.A. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247, 1096-1105). The pH-profiles and the divalent cation dependencies were similar for Fru-1,6-P2-activated yeast pyruvate kinase and the muscle enzyme. Pyruvate enolization by yeast pyruvate kinase has an absolute requirement for ATP in contrast to enolization by the muscle enzyme which proceeds when ATP is replaced by Pi or other dianions. 3. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate was shown to affect the catelytic steps of yeast pyruvate kinase in addition to the binding of substrates. Its role depends on the divalent cation used to activate the enzyme.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1978

Proton translocation of the bovine chromaffin-granule membrane.

Bovine chromaffin granules were lysed and their membranes resealed to give osmotically sensitive 'ghosts'. These swell in the presence of salts and MgATP. It is shown that this is due to proton entry accompanied by anions. The rate of swelling depends on the anion present, but swelling is not limited to media containing permeant anions. It is quite marked in solutions of sulphates, phosphates and acetates. It is not uncoupler-sensitive, suggesting that at least one component of swelling is due to coupled proton and anion entry (non-electrogenic proton translocation). Direct measurements of transmembrane pH and potential gradients generated in the presence of MgATP shows that these are rapidly established in sucrose media, and are rather little affected by the presence of salts. They contribute roughly equally to the total protonmotive force. The potential gradient is establihsed very rapidly, but the pH gradient is generated over several minutes. The gradients are not completely dissipated by uncoupler, and it is shown that, in media containing sulphate but no permeant anion, sulphate can be taken up by the 'ghosts'. There thus appear to be two mechanisms of proton translocation across the membrane, both dependent on ATP hydrolysis: an electrogenic transfer of protons, and proton movement linked to an anion transporter of broad specificity.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗