Bacterial Energetics

Book excerpt: Bacterial Energetics deals with bacterial energetics and the molecular basis of how ions move between and within energy-transducing molecules. Topics covered range from respiration-driven proton pumps and primary sodium pumps to light-driven primary ionic pumps, bacterial transport ATPases, and bacterial photosynthesis. Sodium-coupled cotransport and ion-exchange systems in prokaryotes are also considered. This volume is comprised of 17 chapters and begins with an analysis of the pumps and processes that establish electrochemical ion gradients across bacterial membranes, followed by a discussion on the major types of bioenergetic work that utilize these gradients. The energetics of periplasmic transport systems, chemolithotrophs, methanogens, and protein insertion and translocation into or across membranes are also examined, along with bioenergetics in extreme environments such as high-pressure and high-temperature environments; energetic problems of bacterial fermentations; energetics of bacterial motility; and energetics of the bacterial phosphotransferase system in sugar transport and the regulation of carbon metabolism. This book should be of interest to molecular biologists and biochemists.