Characterization of outer membrane protein fractions of Bdellovibrionales

Bdellovibrio-and-like organisms (BALOs) are predatory bacteria that prey upon Gram-negative bacteria and are taxonomically subsumed in the order Bdellovibrionales. Despite their unique lifestyle, these bacteria show remarkable genotypic diversities. The outer membrane of the predators is likely to play an important role during the recognition and invasion stage, as well as in the intraperiplasmic growth phase. In this study, the outer membrane protein fractions of type strains of Bdellovibrio, Bacteriovorax and Peredibacter were investigated, revealing the presence of outer membrane proteins (Omps) similar to the major Omps of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. The primary structures of these Omps of Bdellovibrio sp. W, Bacteriovorax stolpii and Peredibacter starrii were elucidated by a combined mass spectrometric-reverse genetic approach. The similarity between the analyzed Omps of the investigated BALOs ranges from 32% to 89% showing conserved amino acid regions in their primary structure.