M. A. Baker

CetZ1-dependent polar assembly of the archaeal motility machinery

This study shows that CetZ1 is essential for the polar assembly of the archaeal motility machinery, with distinct roles from its paralog CetZ2.

Hybrid Exb/Mot stators require substitutions distant from the chimeric pore to power flagellar rotation

The paper designs and tests chimeric ion-powered rotary motors (IRMs) by combining components from different bacterial systems, showing that functional improvements require substitutions outside the hybrid pore region.

Tuning the stator subunit of the flagellar motor with coiled-coil engineering.

The paper models the MotB dimer stability and conformational dynamics in the flagellar motor using coiled-coil engineering and free energy calculations, identifying three stable states and correlating them with motility.

Microbial stir bars: light activated rotation of tethered bacterial cells to enhance mixing in stagnant fluids.

The paper demonstrates light-activated rotation of bacterial cells to enhance mixing in microfluidic devices by generating micro-vortices.

Ancestral reconstruction of the MotA stator subunit reveals that conserved residues far from the pore are required to drive flagellar motility

This study uses ancestral sequence reconstruction to identify conserved residues in MotA essential for flagellar motility across different bacterial species.

Novel amiloride derivatives that inhibit bacterial motility across multiple strains and stator types

This paper identifies two amiloride derivatives that inhibit bacterial motility across multiple strains and stator types, including both Na+ and H+ powered motors.

The rapid evolution of flagellar ion-selectivity in experimental populations of E. coli

The paper shows that E. coli can rapidly revert a CRISPR-induced Na+-powered flagellar motor to H+-powered by evolving new mutations, revealing adaptability and modularity of the motor complex.

Separation and enrichment of sodium-motile bacteria using cost-effective microfluidics.

The paper develops a low-cost microfluidic system to separate and enrich sodium-motile bacteria by varying ionic media, achieving eight-fold enrichment of motile populations.

Binding of DNA origami to lipids: maximising yield and switching via strand-displacement

This study identifies optimal conditions for DNA-lipid binding and strand-displacement switching, showing that cholesterol content, DNA structure, and ionic strength affect binding yield and control.

Sodium-powered stators of the bacterial flagellar motor can generate torque in the presence of phenamil with mutations near the peptidoglycan-binding region.

The paper identifies mutations in the sodium-powered bacterial flagellar motor stator PotB that confer resistance to phenamil, showing that mutations near the peptidoglycan-binding region enable motor function in the presence of the inhibitor.