![]() ![]() In this well-documented case, the application of the Mitchellian textbook pmf equation (Eq. ![]() 1) are the well-documented experimental observations of the alkalophilic bacteria ( Bacillus pseuodofirmus) 27, 28, 29 that keep “their internal pH about 2.3 units more acidic than the ambient bulk pH while ∆ψ is about 180 mV” 2, 5, 13, 30, 31, 32. The most obvious evidences that clearly invalidate Mitchell’s pmf equation (Eq. 1) could not really explain the bioenergetics in many biological systems. Recent studies 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22 showed that this Mitchellian textbook pmf equation (Eq. Here, the pmf equation’s parameters are the transmembrane potential difference \(\Delta\psi\), the gas constant R, the absolute temperature T, Faraday’s constant F, and the transmembrane bulk liquid-phase pH difference (∆ pH) as defined previously 25, 26. However, Mitchell’s equation for the “protonic motive force (pmf)” has entered many textbooks 23, 24, 25, 26 and is typically expressed as This topic is related to Peter Mitchell’s chemiosmotic theory 16, 17, 18, which we now know is not entirely correct so that it must be revised 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22. It naturally raises a fundamentally important question: Do the mitochondria-powered chemotrophs have a thermotrophic function featured with isothermal environmental heat energy utilization as well? The answer to this scientific question is now positive 10, 11, 12, 13, 15. This discovery indicated that the protonic bioenergetic systems may have a thermotrophic function that is able to isothermally generate significant amounts of Gibbs free energy from environmental heat (dissipated-heat energy) 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Recently through bioenergetics elucidation studies with a new transmembrane electrostatic proton localization theory 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 now called also as the transmembrane electrostatically localized protons (TELP) theory, Lee discovered that certain biosystems such as alkalophilic bacteria Bacillus pseuodofirmus are capable of utilizing environmental heat energy isothermally with TELP to help drive ATP synthesis 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Consequently, the life on Earth has been classified as two types based on their sources of energy: phototrophs and chemotrophs. In the past, there was a common belief that the living organisms on Earth could only utilize light energy and/or chemical energy, but not the environmental heat energy. Therefore, mitochondria are capable of effectively utilizing the environmental heat energy with TELP for the synthesis of ATP, i.e., it can lock heat energy into the chemical form of energy for cellular functions. Depending on TELP concentrations in mitochondria, this thermotrophic function raises pmf significantly by a factor of 2.6 to sixfold over the classic pmf. The local pmf is now calculated to be in a range from 300 to 340 mV while the classic pmf (which underestimates the total pmf) is in a range from 60 to 210 mV in relation to a range of membrane potentials from 50 to 200 mV. This leads to the conclusion that the oxidative phosphorylation also utilizes environmental heat energy associated with the thermal kinetic energy ( k B T) of TELP in mitochondria. As an extension to this theory, a novel phenomenon of mitochondrial thermotrophic function is now characterized by biophysical analyses of pmf in relation to the TELP concentrations at the liquid-membrane interface. ![]() Transmembrane electrostatically localized protons (TELP) theory has been recently recognized as an important addition over the classic Mitchell’s chemiosmosis thus, the proton motive force (pmf) is largely contributed from TELP near the membrane. ![]()
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