YbdG in Escherichia coli is a threshold-setting mechanosensitive channel with MscM activity.

ABSTRACT: We describe a mechanosensitive (MS) channel that has mechanosensitive channel of miniconductance (MscM) activity, and displays unique properties with respect to gating. Mechanosensitive channels respond to membrane tension, are ubiquitous from bacteria to man, and exhibit a great diversity in structure and function. These channels protect Bacteria and Archaea against hypoosmotic shock and are critical determinants of shape in chloroplasts. Given the dominant roles played in bacteria by the mechanosensitive channel of small conductance (MscS) and the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL), the role of the multiple MS channel homologs observed in most organisms remains obscure. Here we demonstrate that a MscS homolog, YbdG, extends the range of hypoosmotic shock that Escherichi

SUBMITTER: Schumann U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2906545 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature