title: Channel specificity and secondary structure of the glucose-inducible porins of Pseudomonas spp.
abstract: The OprB porin-mediated glucose transport system was investigated in Pseudomonas chlororaphis, Burkholderia cepacia, and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Kinetic studies of [U-14C]glucose uptake revealed an inducible system of low Km values (0.3-5 microM) and high specificity for glucose. OprB homologs were purified and reconstituted into proteoliposomes. The porin function and channel preference for glucose were demonstrated by liposome swelling assays. Examination of the periplasmic glucose-binding protein (GBP) components by Western immunoblotting using P. aeruginosa GBP-specific antiserum revealed some homology between P. aeruginosa GBP and periplasmic proteins from P. fluorescens and P. chlororaphis but not B. cepacia. Circular dichroism spectropolarimetry of purified OprB-like porins from the three species revealed beta sheet contents of 31-50% in agreement with 40% beta sheet content for the P. aeruginosa OprB porin. These findings suggest that the high-affinity glucose transport system is primarily specific for glucose and well conserved in the genus Pseudomonas although its outer membrane component may differ in channel architecture and specificity for other carbohydrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: L O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Adewoye
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tschetter
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Neil
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Worobec
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D016956:Burkholderia cepacia / Q000378:metabolism*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D004058:Diffusion; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D019897:Periplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D018272:Porins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000378:metabolism*; D011551:Pseudomonas fluorescens / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C086247:OprB protein, Pseudomonas; D018272:Porins; D005947:Glucose