Summary
Certain E. coli K12 strains are able to secrete a plasmid encoded 107 K protein into the culture medium. During exponential growth of the cells this protein represents approximately 1% of total cell protein.
The presence of the 107 K polypeptide was demonstrated through the fortuitous use of strain MC4100. This gave a largely protein-free culture supernatant, presumably due to minimal lysis of whole cells. Pulse-labelling experiments showed that the secretion of the 107 K polypeptide reached a maximum during the stationary phase of growth, where it represented substantially more than 1% of total cell protein. The 107 K polypeptide is coded by the haemolytic plasmid pHly167, and appears to be related to a previously reported intracellular “precursor” form of the α-haemolysin (Goebel and Hedgpeth 1982). However, additional extracellular factors appear to be required for α-haemolysin activity since several nonhaemolytic mutants still secrete this protein.
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Communicated by G.A. O'Donovan
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Mackman, N., Holland, I.B. Secretion of a 107 K dalton polypeptide into the medium from a haemolytic E. coli K12 strain. Molec Gen Genet 193, 312–315 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330686
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330686