Abstract
SummaryThe understanding of the biogenesis of the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria is of critical importance due to the emergence of bacteria that are becoming resistant to available antibiotics. A problem that is most serious for Gram‐negative bacteria, with essentially few antibiotics under development or likely to be available for clinical use in the near future. The understanding of the Gram‐negative bacterial outer membrane is therefore critical to developing new antimicrobial agents, as this membrane makes direct contact with the external milieu, and the proteins present within this membrane are the instruments of microbial warfare, playing key roles in microbial pathogenesis, virulence and multidrug resistance. To date, a single outer membrane complex has been identified as essential for the folding and insertion of proteins into the outer membrane, this is the β‐barrel assembly machine (BAM) complex, which in some cases is supplemented by the Translocation and Assembly Module (TAM). In this issue of Molecular Microbiology, Dunstan et al. have identified a novel pathway for the insertion of a subset of integral membrane proteins into the Gram‐negative outer membrane that is independent of the BAM complex and TAM.
Highlights
The Gram-negative bacterial membrane is highly complex and consists of a double membrane separated by a periplasmic space which acts as a permeability barrier that protects against environmental stresses, for example the presence of antibiotics or the harsh environment of the Accepted 03 June, 2015. *For correspondence
The understanding of the biogenesis of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is of critical importance due to the emergence of bacteria that are becoming resistant to available antibiotics
A problem that is most serious for Gram-negative bacteria, with essentially few antibiotics under development or likely to be available for clinical use in the near future
Summary
The understanding of the biogenesis of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is of critical importance due to the emergence of bacteria that are becoming resistant to available antibiotics. A single outer membrane complex has been identified as essential for the folding and insertion of proteins into the outer membrane, this is the β-barrel assembly machine (BAM) complex, which in some cases is supplemented by the Translocation and Assembly Module (TAM).
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