Load‐sensitive coupling of proton translocation and torque generation in the bacterial flagellar motor

It is shown that the MotB(D33E) mutation dramatically alters motor performance in response to changes in external load, and it is proposed that the stator element is a load‐sensitive proton channel that efficiently couples proton translocation with torque generation and that Asp33 of MotB is critical for this co‐ordinated proton translation.