Abstract
Valinomycin is a cyclododecadepsipeptide antibiotic which selectively increases the permeability of various natural and artificial membranes to cations, especially potassium ions, without grossly disrupting membrane integrity (Harold, 1970). These unique qualities of the antibiotic have prompted many investigators to use the antibiotic as a tool for studies on the problem of potassium transport. | The biological system most widely employed for valinomycin-mediated. transport studies has been isolated rat liver mitochondria. In mitochondria, the antibiotic uncouples oxidative phosphorylation due to changes in membrane permeability to potassium ions (McMurray and Begg, 1959). These studies with the antibiotic have accented the intricate relationship between energy metabolism and membrane transport.