Membrane alteration is necessary but not sufficient for effective glutamate secretion in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

We showed recently that secretion of glutamate in biotin-limited cells of Corynebacterium glutamicum is mediated by carrier systems in the plasma membrane (C. Hoischen and R. Krämer, Arch. Microbiol. 151:342-347, 1989). In view of the generally accepted hypothesis that glutamate efflux is directly caused by alterations of the membrane, it was necessary to examine the kind of correlation between changes in lipid content and composition of the bacterial membrane and glutamate secretion activity. Two new experimental approaches were used. (i) Changes in lipid content and composition were analyzed in glutamate-producing cells which were forced to switch to nonproducers by addition of biotin in a short-term fermentation. (ii) The time courses of both the fatty acid or phospholipid composition and the efflux activity were analyzed within the first minutes of the switch from high to low secretion activity. The following results were obtained. (i) The time course of the change in fatty acid or phospholipid content and composition was not related to the change in secretion behavior. (ii) There was no specific fatty acid or phospholipid compound which regulated glutamate efflux. (iii) High efflux activity could only be induced when the total lipid content of the membrane was reduced. (iv) Although consistently correlated to high secretion activity, membrane alteration was never a sufficient prerequisite for glutamate efflux in C. glutamicum.