Single Molecule Biology of Molecular Machines
ATP Synthase and the Bacterial Flagellar Motor
For over 20 years the Bacterial Flagellar Motor was the only known living "wheel". Then in 1997 it was discovered that F1FO-ATP-synthase contains two more rotary motors. Around 2020, driven by advances in detectors for Electron Microscopy, a whole new wave of structures of Large Molecular Machines has been unleashed. Many of these appear to be, or to contain, rotary motors. The goal of our research is to understand how these machines work, and how they are assembled and maintained.