The cytochrome chain of mitochondria exhibits variable H+/e stoichiometry

Abstract
A study is presented of the ←H+/e stoichiometry for H+ pumping by the cytochrome chain in isolated rat liver mitochondria under level‐flow and steady‐state conditions. It is shown that the ←H+/e stoichiometry for the cytochrome chain varies under the influence of the flow rate and transmembrane ΔμH+. The rate‐dependence is shown to be associated with cytochrome c oxidase, whose ←H+/e ratio varies from 0 to 1, whilst the ←H+/c ratio for the span covered by cytochrome c reductase is invariably 2.