How Bacteria Evolved Rotary Motors | Michael Manson

How do bacteria power one of the most sophisticated molecular machines in nature?

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Michael Manson, one of the pioneers of bacterial motility research, whose nearly 50-year career has helped uncover how the bacterial flagellar motor works. From the first experiments proving that bacterial flagella rotate to the latest breakthroughs in cryo-EM and single-molecule biology, Manson tells the story of how scientists finally solved the mechanism behind a real working biological motor.

We explore how bacteria move through chemotaxis using a biased random walk, why E. coli alternates between running and tumbling, and how individual molecules can control the direction of a spinning flagellum. Manson explains the experiments that showed proton motive force powers the flagellar motor, how the motor’s rotor and stator generate torque, why it can reverse direction almost instantly, and how bacteria adapt to changing environments by dynamically adjusting their molecular machinery.

We also discuss ATP synthase, proton gradients, molecular motors, bacterial genetics, cryo-electron microscopy, ion channels, self-assembling protein complexes, nanomachines, and the history of the discoveries that transformed modern microbiology.

Whether you’re interested in the bacterial flagellar motor, molecular biology, biophysics, microbiology, ATP synthase, chemotaxis, molecular machines, or the fundamental physics of life, this week we go deep into one of biology’s most remarkable inventions.

Follow us for more technical interviews with the world’s greatest scientists:
Twitter: https://x.com/632nmPodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/632nmpodcast?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/632nm/about/
Substack: https://632nmpodcast.substack.com/

Follow our hosts!
Mikhail Shalaginov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikhail-shalaginov/
Michael Dubrovsky: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dubrovsky/
Xinghui Yin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xinghui-yin/

Subscribe:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/632nm/id1751170269
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4aVH9vT5qp5UUUvQ6Uf6OR
Website: https://www.632nm.com

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro and Reads
02:42 - Biased Random Walk
10:27 - Manson's Work with Howard Berg
13:24 - Proton Motive Force and Flagellum
29:07 - Rotors and Stators of Flagella
37:20 - Mot Proteins
57:34 - CheY and Changing Direction
1:11:48 - Biology and Intelligent Design
1:26:52 - Reversing Proton Flow
1:29:59 - Life at Low Reynolds Number
1:39:15 - Mysteries in the 90s and 2000s
1:48:34 - Applications of Understanding the Nanomotor
1:58:33 - Flagellar Motor Crash Course
2:01:46 - Bacterial Learning and Adaptation
2:05:56 - Giving Up on Birds
2:14:09 - Caltech
2:21:38 - Advice for Young Scientists
2:30:02 - Origins of Life
2:31:19 - What's Left for the Flagellar Motor?

PART 2:
2:33:33 - Building the Nanomotor
2:39:29 - Other Types of Flagella
2:47:06 - MotA and MotB
3:07:17 - Reusing Motors Across Biology
3:10:13 - Benefits of Being Small
3:12:34 - CheY and Changing Direction
3:19:39 - How Physics Shapes Evolution