Non-bilayer lipids are required for efficient protein transport across the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli.

The construction of a mutant Escherichia coli strain which cannot synthesize phosphatidylethanolamine provides a tool to study the involvement of non-bilayer lipids in membrane function. This strain produces phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin (CL) as major membrane constituents and requires millimolar concentrations of divalent cations for growth. In this strain, the lipid phase behaviour is tightly regulated by adjustment of the level of CL which favours a nonbilayer organization in the presence of specific divalent cations. We have used an in vitro system of inverted membrane vesicles to study the involvement of non-bilayer lipids in protein translocation in the secretion pathway. In this system, protein translocation is very low in the absence of divalent cations but can be enhanced by inclusion of Mg2+, Ca2+ or Sr2+ but not by Ba2+ which is unable to sustain growth of the mutant strain and cannot induce a non-bilayer phase in E. coli CL dispersions. Alternatively, translocation in cation depleted vesicles could be increased by incorporation of the non-bilayer lipid DOPE (18:1) but not by DMPE (14:0) or DOPC (18:1), both of which are bilayer lipids under physiological conditions. We conclude that non-bilayer lipids are essential for efficient protein transport across the plasma membrane of E. coli.