Illustration from Scientific Research

Models of proton translocation through Fo coupled with the rotation of the c-ring. The highly conserved arginine residues of the a-subunit and glutamate (or aspartate) residues of c-subunits are depicted with pink and black open circles, respectively. Protons are depicted as light blue circles. In the models of c10-ring/single a-subunit and c15-ring/single a-subunit, 10 and 15 protons, equal to the number of the c-subunits, are transferred in one turn, respectively. Conversely, in the c10-ring and triple a-subunits model, a total of 30 protons, equal to the number of the c-subunits multiplied by the number of the a-subunits, are transferred in one turn.

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