A K+ transport ATPase in Escherichia coli.

A K+ -stimulated ATPase in membranes of Escherichia coli has been identified as an activity of the Kdp system, and ATP-driven K+ transport system. Three characteristics support association of the ATPase with the Kdp system: (i) ATPase and Kdp transport are both repressed by growth in media containing high concentrations of K+; (ii) the ATPase and Kdp system accept only K+ as substrate, neither requires Na+ nor accepts Rb+ as a substrate; (iii) the affinity of the ATPase and that of th Kdp system for K+ is similar and is altered by mutations in the structural genes of the Kdp system. Discovery of an ATPase associated with a bacterial transport system suggests functional similarities with the ATP-driven transport systems of animal cells.