[Exogenous orthophosphate regulation of ATPase activity of E. coli cells].

The effect of exogenous orthophosphate and mutations in genes, regulating the Pi transport system, on the ATPase activity of E. coli subcellular fractions was studied. It was shown that the orthophosphate starvation resulted in the cessation of the increase in the ATPase activity of membranes and was accompanied by the increase in the analogous activity of a soluble fraction at the expense of the derepression of alkaline phosphatase possessing this activity. The disturbance, resulted from the mutation of protein components participating in the specific binding and transport of orthophosphate, changed the ATPase activity of subcellular fractions: increased the ATPase activity of soluble fraction (independently of the presence of orthophosphate in medium), did not affect significantly the activity of membrane--bound ATPase in the presence of orthophosphate and decreased this activity in the absence of orthophosphate. The data obtained point to the fact that components, binding exogenous orthophosphate and transporting it into a cell, affect the rigidity of the ATPase bound E. coli cytoplasmic membrane. Mutations resulting in the defect in these components relax this bound and lead to the detection of ATPase proper in the periplasm.