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The genes somB and somA (Synechococcus outer membrane), lying in tandem organization in the genome of Synechococcus PCC 6301, encode two porins in the outer membrane of this unicellular cyanobacterium. Northern blot and primer extension experiments revealed that somA and somB are not comprising an operon, as each gene encodes a transcript of 1.7 kb length and has a distinct transcriptional start site. The deduced SomA and SomB protein sequences include typical N-terminal signal peptides and reveal 60% homology (50% identical residues) to each other as well as significant homology to six protein sequences deduced from open reading frames sequenced in the genome of the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. Furthermore, SomA possesses an overall identity of 97% to the functionally not yet characterized outer-membrane protein SomA from the closely related cyanobacterial strain Synechococcus PCC 7942. Analyses performed on the sequences suggest that SomA and SomB form 14- or 16-stranded porin-like beta-barrels. Moreover, all sequences share an N-terminal motif with significant homology to 'S-layer homology' domains, which might form a periplasmic extension. SomA and SomB therefore may, in addition to their porin function, act as linkers connecting the outer membrane with the peptidoglycan layer.

Two major proteins, A and B, were isolated and purified from outer membranes of the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC 6301 by gel filtration, anion-exchange chromatography, and preparative SDS-PAGE. Protein A revealed a single-channel conductance of 0.4 nanoSiemens (nS) in 1 M KCl, whereas preparations containing both proteins showed two different conductance maxima of 0.4 and 0.9 nS, suggesting that B also forms pores. The apparent molecular mass of the two closely migrating proteins was determined as 52 kDa, whereas native porin extracts revealed a relative molecular mass of ca. 140 kDa, indicating trimeric pore-forming units. Partial sequences of both proteins were obtained by N-terminal sequencing of tryptic peptides, and the C-terminal amino acid sequences were derived from the complete proteins. These sequences were aligned to protein sequences available in the databases. The results are discussed.

The pore-forming outer-membrane protein from Rhodobacter (R.) capsulatus (wild-type B10 strain) was isolated and purified under non-denaturing conditions. The monomer unit of the isolated porin has a molecular mass of about 28 kDa, as judged by SDS-PAGE, whereas the native protein migrates at 75 kDa. This suggests that the native porin from R. capsulatus B10 exists in a trimeric form. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was used to design an oligonucleotide which was utilised to screen a pBluescript library containing EcoRI fragments of R. capsulatus B10 DNA. A 5.3-kb DNA fragment, which included the entire structural porin gene (named porCa) and its flanking regions, was identified. A 945-bp open reading frame, coding for a mature protein of 295 amino acid residues (molecular mass 30,586 Da) plus a presequence of 20 amino acids, was found. The directly determined sequence of the amino-terminus and of four tryptic peptides of the purified porin matched perfectly with the deduced amino acid sequence. Northern blot analysis showed that the porin gene encodes an RNA transcript of 1050 nucleotides. In addition, there is no differential response in terms of either the size or abundance of the mRNA under different environmental conditions. Primer extension experiments confirmed a putative promoter upstream of the porin gene; and localised the RNA transcription start site 73 bp upstream of the ATG start codon, which is close to the putative promoter (-10/-35). As shown using a plasmid-borne porin-lacZ gene fusion, [in R. capsulatus] expression of the lacZ gene under the control of the porCa promoter is not regulated under the two different environmental conditions tested. The promoter of the porin gene was localised within 305 bp upstream of the ATG start codon. A model of the 3-D structure of porin B10 was deduced by comparative modelling with the R. capsulatus 37b4 and Rhodopseudomonas blastica porin crystallographic structures using the ProMod program on the Swiss-Model protein modelling e-mail Server. Analysis of the B10 sequence and comparison of a model of the B10 porin structure with the crystallographic structure of porin from the capsuleless strain 37B4 has revealed some important differences at the level of the protein surface, the pore and the putative ligand binding site.

Porin was isolated from Rhodobacter (Rb.) capsulatus wild type B10, as well as from Rb. capsulatus 37b4 as a control. The porin from Rb. capsulatus B10 shows significant differences to that of Rb. capsulatus 37b4 in N-terminal sequence, amino acid composition and molecular mass. The apparent molecular mass of the purified porin from Rb. capsulatus B10 is about 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE, whereas the native porin trimer migrates at 75 kDa. For Rb. capsulatus 37b4 the molecular mass of the momomer is about 30 kDa and for the trimer about 76 kDa. These differences may be related to the morphological differences between the two wild type strains. Rb. capsulatus B10 has an extracellular capsule whereas Rb. capsulatus 37b4 is capsuleless. The native proteins from both wild types showed similar single channel conductance measurements in black lipid membranes. The B10 porin has been crystallised using the detergent beta-d-octyl-gluco-pyranoside. The crystals diffracted to 3 A and belong to the orthorhombic space-group P212121. The crystal packing could be elucidated by molecular replacement.

Pore-forming protein (porin) was isolated from N,N-dimethyl-dodecylaminoxid (LDAO)-extracted outer membranes of Synechococcus PCC 6301 and purified by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel column. The apparent molecular mass on SDS-PAGE was determined to be about 52,000. The native porin was reconstituted into black lipid bilayer membranes and showed a single-channel conductance of 5.5 nS in 1 M KCl. The porin was found to be N-terminally blocked. The C-terminal amino acid sequence was identified as Phe-Thr-Phe. Amino acid analysis suggested that the porin protein consists of about 420 amino acid residues, yielding a polarity of 43.6% and a molecular mass of 45,000 in contrast to the mobility on SDS-PAGE.