Fitting the Pieces of the β-Barrel Assembly Machinery Complex

β-Barrel membrane proteins are found in the outer membranes of mitochondria, chloroplasts, and Gram-negative bacteria; however, exactly how they are folded and inserted remains unknown. Over the past decade, both functional and structural studies have greatly contributed to addressing this elusive mechanism. It is known that a conserved core machinery is required for each organelle, though the overall composition varies significantly. The vast majority of studies that aimed to understand the biogenesis of β-barrel membrane proteins has been conducted in Gram-negative bacteria. Here, it is the task of a multicomponent complex known as the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) complex to fold and insert new β-barrel membrane proteins into the outer membrane. In this review, we will discuss recent discoveries with the goal of utilizing all reported structural and functional studies to piece together a current structural model for the fully assembled BAM complex.