Bacterial Electrophysiolgy

Wei-Chang Lo, Ekaterina Krasnopeeva, Teuta Pilizota

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Bacterial ion fluxes are involved in the generation of energy, transport, and motility. As such, bacterial electrophysiology is fundamentally important for the bacterial life cycle, but it is often neglected and consequently, by and large, not understood. Arguably, the two main reasons for this are the complexity of measuring relevant variables in small cells with a cell envelope that contains the cell wall and the fact that, in a unicellular organism, relevant variables become intertwined in a nontrivial manner. To help give bacterial electrophysiology studies a firm footing, in this review, we go back to basics. We look first at the biophysics of bacterial membrane potential, and then at the approaches and models developed mostly for the study of neurons and eukaryotic mitochondria. We discuss their applicability to bacterial cells. Finally, we connect bacterial membrane potential with other relevant (electro)physiological variables and summarize methods that can be used to both measure and influence bacterial electrophysiology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)487–510
Number of pages37
JournalAnnual Review of Biophysics
Volume53
Issue number1
Early online date21 Feb 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Jul 2024

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • bacteria
  • electrophysiology
  • ion fluxes
  • biophysical models
  • pump leak equations
  • membrane potential

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