Which of the following statements about ionophores is false?
Ionophores are small hydrophobic organic molecules, typically cyclic peptides, depsipeptides or polyethers, produced by various soil microbes as competitors for niche colonization. Their defining functional attribute is capacity to overcome the high dielectric barrier of lipid bilayers for charged ions by providing a polar binding site shielded by hydrophobic exterior that readily partitions into membrane. By facilitating passive equilibration of ions down existing electrochemical gradients, they dissipate membrane potential, pH gradients and ion asymmetries, uncoupling oxidative phosphorylati
Ref: Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed., Chapter 11: Ionophores as Mobile Carriers and Channel Formers.