Single-channel characterization of the chitooligosaccharide transporter chitoporin (SmChiP) from the opportunistic pathogen Serratia marcescens.

ABSTRACT: Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic pathogen that can utilize chitin as a carbon source, through its ability to produce chitin-degrading enzymes to digest chitin and membrane transporters to transport the degradation products (chitooligosaccharides) into the cells. Further characterization of these proteins is important to understand details of chitin metabolism. Here, we investigate the properties and function of the S. marcescens chitoporin, namely SmChiP, a chitooligosaccharide transporter. We show that SmChiP is a monomeric porin that forms a stable channel in artificial phospholipid membranes, with an average single-channel conductance of 0.5 ± 0.02 nS in 1 M KCl electrolyte. Additionally, we demonstrated that SmChiP allowed the passage of small molecules with a size exclusion lim

SUBMITTER: Soysa HSM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9582717 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature