Sodium and potassium requirements for active transport of glutamate by Escherichia coli K-12

Potassium transport and the relationship between intracellular potassium concentration and amino acid uptake by cells of a marine pseudomonad

Transport of K(+) by K(+)-depleted cells of marine pseudomonad B-16 (ATCC 19855) exhibited saturation kinetics. Rb(+) inhibited both K(+) transport and the K(+)-dependent transport of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) into K(+)-depleted cells of the organism in proportion to the concentration of Rb(+) in the suspending medium. Inhibition of the K(+)-dependent uptake of AIB into K(+)-depleted cells by Rb(+) could be overcome by increasing the concentration of K(+) in the medium. When AIB and K(+) were added simultaneously to a suspension of K(+)-depleted cells, the uptake of K(+) occurred immediately and rapidly, whereas the accumulation of AIB occurred only after a lag. The initial uptake rate of AIB was directly proportional to the intracellular K(+) concentration. The intracellular concentration of K(+) and AIB at their steady-state levels increased to a maximum as the Na(+) concentration in the suspending medium was increased. At Na(+) concentrations between 0.2 and 0.3 M, the molar ratio of K(+) to AIB at their intracellular steady-state concentrations was constant at 1.6. At external Na(+) concentrations less than 0.2 M, the cells maintained a relatively higher K(+) intracellular steady-state level than AIB.

Properties of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid transport in a thermophilic microorganism

Uptake of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) by a leucine-tyrosine auxotroph of a thermophilic microorganism starved for leucine was studied. AIB was taken up by the cells against a substantial concentration gradient (300:1) and was present there in a free and unchanged form. Various energy inhibitors and sulfhydryl reagents strongly inhibited the accumulation of AIB. AIB uptake obeyed saturation kinetics, and the Lineweaver-Burk plot is characterized by a biphasic curve. AIB most probably shares a common transport system(s) with alanine, serine, and glycine. A mutant defective in l-alanine uptake was isolated by using the suicide effect due to accumulation of the tritiated substrate. The mutant also exhibited impaired transport activity towards AIB, glycine, and l-serine, but not to phenylalanine or valine. The transport of AIB, glycine, l-alanine, and l-serine was induced by d-alanine (5 x 10(-3) M) during growth in a succinate- and ammonia-containing medium. De novo protein synthesis was required for the induction of AIB transport; the induction was inhibited when growth occurred in glucose-containing media. The apparent differential rate of synthesis of the AIB transport system was decreased considerably in glucose-grown cells as compared to succinate-grown cells. A common genetic basis of either the regulatory or structural nature for the transport of AIB, alanine, glycine, and serine in a thermophilic microorganism is suggested.

Sodium-stimulated glutamate transport in osmotically shocked cells and membrane vesicles of Escherichia coli

Three phenotypically distinct strains of Escherichia coli B were studied: one in which the transport of glutamate was strongly stimulated by sodium, one in which the transport was relatively independent of sodium, and one which did not transport glutamate. Membrane vesicle preparations from the three strains followed the behavior of whole cells with respect to sodium-stimulated transport. Although glutamate-binding material could be released from cells by osmotic shock, its affinity for glutamate was not significantly influenced by sodium. Furthermore, the shocked cells retained sodium-stimulated transport. The accumulated results suggest that the sodium-activated glutamate transport system resides in the cytoplasmic membrane and that releasable binding protein(s) is not intimately involved in its function.