Relationship between the OmpC and LamB proteins of Escherichia coli and its influence on the protein mass of the outer membrane.

Cultures of Escherichia coli K-12 which possessed varied amounts of the LamB protein were found to contain reduced amounts of the OmpC protein. This process was regulated in part at the level of transcription. However, additional controls were inferred from anomalously high levels of the OmpC protein present at low levels of the LamB protein. Both proteins were present at increased levels, and this led to an increase in the total outer membrane protein mass per cell. The absolute amount of outer membrane protein per cell was found not to be a constant as had been tacitly assumed.