Osmotic pools in Escherichia coli.

Osmotically sensitive pools in Escherichia coli are released by treatment with warm water without loss in viability or of cytoplasmic components. The rates of protein release are linear and are inversely dependent on the osmolarity of the medium, and only discrete amounts are released. These pools, which are thought to be periplasmic and mesosomal, are stabilized with magnesium ions; material released in the presence of these ions may have been localized outside of these pools at the cell surface.