A portrait of the adenosine triphosphate synthetase-hydrolase.

It is proposed that the ATP-synthetic and ATP-hydrolytic activities of energy-transducing mitochondria, chloroplasts and bacterial membranes are due to different enzyme systems. It is suggested that the alpha-subunits of the oligomycin-sensitive coupling factor catalyze synthesis and the beta-subunits catalyze hydrolysis. Evidence is assembled from the literature in support of this concept.

Are there knobs on energy transducing membranes in situ?

It is argued here that the projections which are frequently seen on the matrix side of the mitochondrial inner membranes and which are characterized as globules or spherical projections or as knob-on-stalks are an artifact of the preparation and/or of the staining of the submitochondrial particles or mitochondria. In sectioned or freeze-fractured preparations of intact cells or mitochondria, the externalized spheres are rarely seen on the membranes. They are, however, almost always seen on fragmented preparations, especially if they have been negatively stained with phosphotungstate.

An assessment of the chemiosmotic hypothesis of mitochondrial energy transduction.

It is argued that a proton concentration difference and/or a membrane potential is not the form into which the free energy of the oxidation-reduction reactions of the mitochondrial respiratory chain is first transduced. It is suggested that the search for a chemical intermediate should be continued in spite of the conclusion by some investigators that the chemical hypothesis is untenable. It is asked whether pH changes when measured in solutions containing mitochondria can be interpreted as evidence for H+ movements, also, whether there is a continuous, renewable and stable electrochemical proton concentration difference (delta mu H+) across the mitochondrial membrane, and whether in fact the delta mu H+ is a necessary intermediate in the synthesis of ATP.