Protein composition of the cell wall and cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli

Envelope preparations obtained by passing Escherichia coli cells through a French pressure cell were separated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation into two distinct particulate fractions. The fraction with the higher density was enriched in fragments derived from the cell wall, as indicated by the high content of lipopolysaccharide, the low content of cytochromes, and the similar morphology of the fragments and intact cell walls. The less-dense fraction was enriched in vesicles derived from the cytoplasmic membrane, as indicated by the enrichment of cytochromes, the enzymes lactic and succinic dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase, and the morphological similarity of the vesicles to intact cytoplasmic membrane. Both fractions were rich in phospholipid. The protein composition was compared by mixing the cytoplasmic membrane-enriched fraction from a (3)H-labeled culture with the cell wall-enriched fraction from a (14)C-labeled culture and examining the resulting mixture by gel electrophoresis. Thirty-four bands of radioactive protein were resolved; of these, 27 were increased two- to fourfold in the cytoplasmic membrane-enriched fraction, whereas 6 were similarly increased in the cell wall-enriched fraction. One of the proteins which is clearly localized in the cell wall is the protein with a molecular weight of 44,000, which is the major component of the envelope. This protein accounted for 70% of the total protein of the cell wall, and its occurrence in the envelope from spheroplasts suggests that it is a structural protein of the outer membranous component of the cell wall.