Abstract
Multiple mechanisms of transmembrane sugar transport in bacteria are regulated in response to various sensors of energy availability. These sensors of energy availability include intracellular metabolites, cytoplasmic ATP or phosphoenolpyruvate, the proton motive force, and exogenous sources of energy. Specific regulatory proteins are designed to sense the availability of these potential energy sources via complex sensory transmission mechanisms that involve reception, protein phosphorylation and allosteric protein-protein interactions. This chapter discusses the two best characterized transmission mechanisms from a biophysical standpoint. It discusses the mechanisms of carbohydrate transport in bacteria. Bacteria take up exogenous sources of carbon and energy via hundreds of solute-specific transport systems that function by seven different mechanisms and belong to several independently evolving protein families or superfamilies. Among these systems are the lactose and melibiose permeases of Escherichia coli (E. coli) that function by proton and sodium symport and belong to the major facilitator and sodium:solute symporter superfamilies, respectively. These transporters are driven by chemiosmotic energy in the form of ion gradients and transmembrane electrical potentials.
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