Release of outer membrane vesicles by Gram‐negative bacteria is a novel envelope stress response

Conditions that impair protein folding in the Gram-negative bacterial envelope cause stress. The destabilizing effects of stress in this compartment are recognized and countered by a number of signal transduction mechanisms. Data presented here reveal another facet of the complex bacterial stress response, release of outer membrane vesicles. Native vesicles are composed of outer membrane and periplasmic material, and they are released from the bacterial surface without loss of membrane integrity. Here we demonstrate that the quantity of vesicle release correlates directly with the level of protein accumulation in the cell envelope. Accumulation of material occurs under stress, and is exacerbated upon…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• NI
  National Institute of General Medical Sciences
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• BA
  Biological and Environmental Research
• PN
  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory