Aspects of the control and organization of bacterial electron transport.

At first sight, bacterial electron-transfer chains present a picture of great diversity and complexity. Not only are there many different types of cytochromes and other components, but also branched chains are frequently encountered (Haddock & Jones, 1977). Whilst for some bacteria there has been progress in characterizing the components of electron-transfer chains, there has been little attempt to formulate any general rules about the organization and control of bacterial electron transfer. The aim of the present paper is to summarize some of the developments and problems in the understanding of the relatively well characterized electron-transfer chain of Paracoccus denitrficans, and then to consider briefly how far extrapolation might be made to other bacteria.