Ultrastructure of the outer membrane of Salmonella typhimurium bacteriocin-resistant mutants deficient in the 33K protein.

Outer membrane mutants of Salmonella typhimurium deficient in one, two, or three of the 33,000-dalton (33K), 34K, and 36K outer membrane proteins (7) were studied by using thin sectioning and freeze-fracturing electron microscopy techniques. The outer concave fracture face of all mutants deficient in the 33K protein had numerous particleless patches. In contrast to all previously examined 34K to 36K-deficient mutants, the 33K-deficient mutants showed marked heterogeneity in the size and distribution of such "empty" patches between cells of a culture. One mutant was deficient in both the 33K and the 34K to 36K "porin" protein complex; its outer membrane had very large particleless smooth areas. It is concluded that the 33K protein on one hand and the porin on the other are both able to form intramembraneous particles.