Flagellar motor mechanics
Mechanistic claims about proton-driven rotation, stator architecture, torque generation, and directional switching.
Public evidence docket
Bacterial flagellum and the question of what it is to be alive
A public review artifact for a Portuguese TantoMundo article discussing bacterial flagellar motors, proton gradients, intelligent-design claims about irreducible complexity, and recent work on flagellar evolution.
Source
TantoMundo, 28 April 2026Language
Portuguese source, English working translationReview state
Public summary, needs editor reviewPublication boundary: this page publishes concise claim summaries, citation metadata, source links, and TalkOrigins mappings. It does not publish the full third-party article, full English working translation, private source capture, local Library paths, or review caches.
Review frame
What the docket is tracking
Irreducible complexity
Reported intelligent-design claims centered on Michael Behe's use of the bacterial flagellum as a design example.
Evolutionary context
Recent literature on MotAB stators, structural diversity, and non-flagellar relatives as evidence relevant to flagellar origins.
Origins-of-life boundary
A separate open question about first-cell proton gradients and alkaline hydrothermal vent research.
Claim map
Claims and primary TalkOrigins review targets
Scientific claimtm-flagellum-001
Flagellar rotation is explained through proton-driven work.
The source uses current mechanistic work to frame the flagellar motor as driven by proton imbalance across the membrane.
Primary TOA targets
Scientific claimtm-flagellum-002
Bacterial flagella are rotary motors, not contraction-driven cilia.
This is used as background for how the bacterial flagellum differs from eukaryotic cilia and why the motor mechanism matters.
Primary TOA targets
Scientific claimtm-flagellum-003
Stator structure is relevant to explaining motor function.
The docket records a source-supported structural claim about a 5:2 stator architecture and coupling to the C-ring.
Primary TOA targets
Scientific claimtm-flagellum-004
Proton flux and torque generation are treated quantitatively.
A cited PNAS paper is used for the claim that stators pass protons and generate torque through an asymmetric binding cycle.
Primary TOA targets
Scientific claimtm-flagellum-005
Motor switching has a physical mechanism.
The source discusses CheY phosphorylation and C-ring binding as part of directional switching and tumbling.
Primary TOA targets
Scientific claimtm-flagellum-006
Chemiosmotic theory replaces vital-force explanations.
The article connects proton gradients to cellular work and presents this as an anti-vitalist explanatory frame.
Primary TOA targets
Reported opposition claimtm-flagellum-007
Behe's flagellum argument is the central opposition claim.
The docket records the reported intelligent-design argument that the bacterial flagellum is irreducibly complex and therefore indicates design.
Primary TOA targets
Legal-historical claimtm-flagellum-008
Kitzmiller v. Dover is used as legal context.
The docket maps the article's Dover discussion to the TalkOrigins Dover pages and intelligent-design-as-creationism IndexCC entries.
Primary TOA targets
Scientific claimtm-flagellum-009
MotAB stator evolution is relevant to flagellar origins.
A 2025 mBio study is used as a current-science update directly relevant to the flagellum/irreducible-complexity claim family.
Primary TOA targets
Open scientific questiontm-flagellum-010
First-cell proton gradients remain an origins-of-life question.
The docket separates this open question from argument-from-ignorance framing and maps it to origin-of-life review material.
Primary TOA targets
Citation audit
Verified DOI citations and open-access links
Crossref exact matches
6DOI links checked for OA
7OA available
5Direct PDFs found
2| Source | DOI | OA Status | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| The dynamic response of the bacterial flagellar motor to its direct intracellular input signal. PNAS, 2026. | 10.1073/pnas.2516278123 | hybrid | publisher page |
| Structures of the stator complex that drives rotation of the bacterial flagellum. Nature Microbiology, 2020. | 10.1038/s41564-020-0788-8 | green | repository PDF |
| Torque-generating units of the bacterial flagellar motor are rotary motors. PNAS, 2025. | 10.1073/pnas.2515291122 | hybrid | publisher page |
| Structural basis of directional switching by the bacterial flagellum. Nature Microbiology, 2024. | 10.1038/s41564-024-01630-z | closed | publisher page |
| Evolution and structural diversity of the MotAB stator: insights into the origins of bacterial flagellar motility. mBio, 2025. | 10.1128/mbio.03824-24 | gold | publisher page |
| The Origin of Life in Alkaline Hydrothermal Vents. Astrobiology, 2016. | 10.1089/ast.2015.1406 | closed | publisher page |
| Additional DOI-bearing source link checked for OA availability. | 10.1080/23746149.2017.1289120 | gold | publisher PDF |