Dynamics measured by neutron scattering correlates with the organization of bioenergetics complexes in natural membranes from hyperthermophile and mesophile bacteria

Various models on membrane structure and organization of proteins and complexes in natural membranes emerged during the last years. However, the lack of systematic dynamical studies to complement structural investigations hindered the establishment of a more complete picture of these systems. Elastic incoherent neutron scattering gives access to the dynamics on a molecular level and was applied to natural membranes extracted from the hyperthermophile Aquifex aeolicus and the mesophile Wolinella succinogenes bacteria. The results permitted to extract a hierarchy of dynamic flexibility and atomic resilience within the samples, which correlated with the organization of proteins in bioenergetics complexes and the functionality of the membranes.