Jonathan Bath
j [dot] bath1 [at] physics [dot] ox [dot] ac [dot] uk
DNA can be used as both construction material and fuel for molecular motors.
Burnt Bridges Motor
Stepwise movement of a motor (red) along an array of identical attachment single-stranded stators (yellow) is driven by DNA hydrolysis. Named 'burnt bridges' because the direction of movement is imposed by damage to the track in the wake of the motor.
Two Foot Motor
Forcing identical feet to compete for binding to overlapping track sites provides a mechanism for directional movement along a track.
Spore formation in Bacillus subtilis is characterised by an asymmetric cell division trapping chromosomal DNA at the septum. The protein SpoIIIE is responsible for transporting chromosomal DNA across the septum into prespore. The 2D gel shows accumulation of positive supercoiling in an assay designed to report the ability of a SpoIIIE to transport DNA.
The 'topological filter' allows cut-and-paste DNA reactions to select substrates with distant sites connected head-to-tail and reject those connected head-to-head.
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