Studies on the expression of outer membrane protein 2 in escherichia coli.

The relative level of protein 2 expressed in the outer membrane of strains of Escherichia coli K-12 lysogenized with bacteriophage PA-2 was found to be influenced by both the growth temperature and lc+ gene dosage. An increase in either of these parameters was accompanied by an increase in the level of protein 2 up to an apparent saturation level. Any increase in the amount of protein 2 was accompanied by a concomittant decrease in the amount of OmpF and OmpC porins. This inverse relationship led to the maintenance of an approximately constant protein mass per unit of peptidoglycan. Our results are discussed in light of recent genetic studies on the regulation of the OmpF and OmpC porins and can be explained through the competition of these three matrix proteins for a common export or insertion site.