Model of Active Transport of Ions in Archaea Cells

A mathematical model of the active transport of main ions in cells of archaebacteria has been constructed. A set of equations has been developed and solved for ion fluxes through the bacterium membrane. The model is based on the principle “one ion—one transport system.” Considering experimental data, the major transport mechanism was determined for each ion and the balance equation was written on the basis of this mechanism in the stationary state. This allowed calculating values of the membrane potential and intracellular concentrations of the ions independently. The calculated values of the intracellular concentrations and resting potential are in qualitative agreement with the corresponding experimental values for cells of extremely halophilic archaea.