Aggregation and proton release of purple and white membranes following cleavage of the carboxyl-terminal tail of bacteriorhodopsin.

Our results indicate that the previously reported decrease in proton release by proteolyzed purple membrane sheets was due merely to the aggregation state of these preparations and not to the loss of the carboxyl-terminal tail. Changes in H+/M412 ratios obtained for purple and white membrane preparations correlate with the measured aggregation. White membrane preparations consistently exhibit H+/M412 ratios more than twice those measured for native purple membranes under the same conditions. Quasi-elastic light scattering was used to characterize the size of isolated purple and white membrane sheets before and after proteolysis. The results clearly show that native purple membrane preparations are larger in size than would be expected and that, following trypsin treatment, they are on average more than an order of magnitude larger. Negative staining electron microscopy showed that the purple membrane became aggregated in stacked arrays. Bleaching and reconstitution with retinal also affect aggregation, but iodination or nitration of purple membrane does not affect the measured size. The average size of white membranes is smaller; this is consistent with results of electron microscopy and the size increase is much less than that of purple membranes following trypsin treatment. No size change occurs with retinal reconstitution. In aggregated purple membrane preparations, protons and other cations are unable to exchange freely with the aqueous medium, explaining why proteolysis lowers the proton release from purple membrane sheets in suspension.