Bacteria

[chiddler]

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Do gram-negative bacterial outer membranes contain pores?

Book implies yes, but not very clear nor is googling giving me anything definitive.

 

[milski]

The drawing of a gram-negative bacteria cell wall in my textbook shows proteins embedded in both the outer and the plasma membrane. There is nothing explicit saying if they are pores or not, which makes me think that they might be, at least in some cases.

 

[MedPR]

Do gram-negative bacterial outer membranes contain pores?

Book implies yes, but not very clear nor is googling giving me anything definitive.

Pores? Depends how you define that I guess. They definitely have holes in the membrane just like the plasma membrane does, but whether or not they have pores, like nuclear membrane pores, I don't know.

Also, EK says something about the outermembrane being very permeable, more permeable than the plasma membrane of bacteria. I don't know if that's relevant though.

Edit: There are porin proteins in the outer membrane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porin_(protein)

 

[chiddler]

Pores? Depends how you define that I guess. They definitely have holes in the membrane just like the plasma membrane does, but whether or not they have pores, like nuclear membrane pores, I don't know.

Also, EK says something about the outermembrane being very permeable, more permeable than the plasma membrane of bacteria. I don't know if that's relevant though.

Edit: There are porin proteins in the outer membrane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porin_(protein)

Aha! Good find.

thank you both.