Open AccessEscherichia coli accumulates the eukaryotic osmolyte taurine at high osmolarity
Author(s) -
McLaggan Debbie,
Epstein Wolfgang
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1991.tb04747.x
Subject(s) - osmolyte , taurine , osmotic concentration , escherichia coli , betaine , biochemistry , cytoplasm , osmoregulation , trehalose , osmotic shock , biology , enterobacteriaceae , proline , chemistry , amino acid , gene , ecology , salinity
Escherichia coli accumulated taurine at high osmolarity via the ProU and ProP transport systems. Taurine accumulation was shown to be osmotically active as it displaced cytoplasmic K + . In contrast to betaine and proline, taurine only modestly enhanced the growth rate of E. coli at high osmolarity and only if the cell was unable to synthesise trehalose. These studies show that taurine cannot be used as a tracer for the extra‐cytoplasmic space of bacteria grown at high osmolarity.