Differential release of periplasmic versus cytoplasmic enzymes from Escherichia coli B by polymixin B

Structure and function of the cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria

Images

Freeze-etching and x-ray diffraction of the isolated double-track layer from the cell wall of a gram-negative marine pseudomonad

The isolated double-track layer of the cell wall of the gram-negative marine pseudomonad studied here contains a cleavage plane. This finding localizes the single cleavage plane of the cell wall and shows that the molecular architecture of this layer provides the lipid-enriched layer which cleaves preferentially in the frozen cell. The observation that the isolated double-track layer of the cell wall is sufficiently ordered at the molecular level to yield a well-defined X-ray diffraction pattern with a d-spacing of 0.44 nm shows that its molecular architecture is very similar to that of true membranes. This specific d-spacing is produced by the highly ordered packing of the hydrophobic portions of phospholipid molecules. Therefore, the double-track layer of the cell wall has been shown, by these two biophysical means, to have a molecular architecture which would allow it to function as the membrane-like "molecular sieve" layer, whose presence has been deduced from physiological data. This layer is important in the retention of cell wall-associated enzymes and in the control of the movement of large molecules through the cell wall.

Effects of fatty acid substitution on the release of enzymes by osmotic shock

The release of enzymes by osmotic shock from Escherichia coli strain 30E, an unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph, was examined in culture supplemented with either cis- or trans-unsaturated fatty acids. Cultures grown in oleate-supplemented medium release a large fraction of the total cyclic phosphodiesterase, acid hexose phosphatase, and 5'-nucleotidase following osmotic shock. Cultures grown in elaidate-supplemented medium release much less of these same enzymes after shock treatment. Cultures grown with either supplementation show total release of these enzymes upon conversion to spheroplasts, demonstrating that the enzymes are in the periplasmic space in both cases. Cultures grown with either oleate or elaidate as fatty acid source were washed and suspended in medium containing the other isomer. The change from oleate to elaidate resulted in a rapid decrease in ability of the cells to release the three enzymes after osmotic shock so that within a 25% increase in cell mass the culture responded to osmotic shock as would a culture grown overnight in elaidate-supplemented medium. The reverse experiment resulted in a gradual increase in the ability of the cells to respond to osmotic shock. The outer membrane of E. coli is altered by the incorporation of elaidate, as indicated by electron microscopic data.