Properties of a mutant lactose carrier of Escherichia coli with a Cys148----Ser148 substitution.

The cysteine residue at position 148 in the lactose carrier protein of Escherichia coli has been replaced by serine using oligonucleotide-directed, site-specific mutagenesis of the lac Y gene. The mutant carrier is incorporated into the cytoplasmic membrane to the same extent as the wild-type carrier, confers a lactose-positive phenotype on cells, and actively transports lactose and other galactosides. However, the maximum rate of transport for several substrates is reduced by a factor of 6-10 while the apparent affinity is reduced by a factor of 2-4. Carrier activity in the mutant is much less sensitive to sulfhydryl reagents (HgCl2, p-(chloromercuri)benzenesulfonate and N-ethylmaleimide) than in the wild type, and beta-D-galactosyl 1-thio-beta-D-galactoside does not protect the mutant carrier against slow inactivation by N-ethylmaleimide. It is concluded that the Cys148 residue is not essential for carrier-catalyzed galactoside: proton symport and that its alkylation presumbly prohibits access of the substrate to the binding site by steric hindrance. A serine residue at position 148 in the amino acid sequence appears to alter the protein structure in such a way that one or more sulfhydryl groups elsewhere in the protein become accessible to alkylating agents thereby inhibiting transport. Recently, Trumble et al. [(1984) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 119, 860-867] arrived at similar conclusions by investigating a mutant carrier with a Cys148----Gly148 replacement.