TonB-dependent outer-membrane proteins/receptors

The first of the haem uptake systems to be characterized at molecular level was that of Yersinia enterolitica, which closely resembles a typical siderophore uptake system (Stojiljkovic and Hantke, 1992, 1994), including a TonB-dependent outer membrane receptor for haem, a periplasmic binding protein, and a cytoplasmic membrane transport system. There also seems to be a protein that degrades haem and liberates haem iron within the cell. TonB-dependent outer membrane receptor proteins for haem have been cloned and sequenced from Shigella dysenteriae and E. coli (Mills and Payne, 1995 Torres and Payne, 1997), while in Vibrio cholera two genes are required for haem utilization, one an outer membrane receptor a second which may have a TonB-like function (Henderson and Payne, 1994). 

Specific receptors for siderophores and vitamin B12 have been identified in the OM of Gram-negative bacteria. The translocation of these ligands across the outer membrane follows an energy-dependent mechanism and also involves the TonB, ExbB, ExbD proteins anchored in the cytoplasmic membrane. Biochemical and genetic data indicate that these proteins form a functional unit (the Ton complex), which couples the outer membrane receptor-mediated... 

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