TrwB: An F1-ATPase-like molecular motor involved in DNA transport during bacterial conjugation

The mechanism by which TrwB acts as a DNA transporter in bacterial conjugation is analyzed. Based on a parallelism between TrwB and F1-ATPase, TrwB would use the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to pump DNA through its central channel, in a manner similar to that used by F1-ATPase to produce a rotary movement of the central γ-subunit. © 2005 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.This work was supported by grant BFU2005-03477 from the Spanish Ministry of Education to F.C. and grant API/05/06 from Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (Spain) to E.C.Peer Reviewe