A non-equilibrium mechanism of bacterial flagellar motor switches

The dynamic characteristics of flagellar motors are greatly affected by external loads, and in previous studies, the switching of motors from low to high loads was investigated
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In this paper, optical tweezers are used to stall the flagellar motor, and the high temporal and spatial resolution of optical tweezers is used to study the switching dynamics of the motor during stall, achieving accurate measurements
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By further comparing the previous results of dynamic characteristics under other loads, the researchers propose a new mechanism whereby the asymmetrical torque when the motor rotates clockwise and counterclockwise provides an unbalanced energy input for motor switching
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This finding provides new insights into other nonequilibrium thermodynamic mechanisms of allosteric regulation and also explains the important physiological significance of torque asymmetry under both rotational conditions