Changes in the organization of the outer membrane of Proteus mirabilis during swarming: freeze-fracture structure and membrane fluidity analysis.

Freeze-fracture studies of short, nonswarming Proteus mirabilis revealed the characteristic gram-negative profile of fractured inner membrane with densely packed particles and sectioned outer membrane with little or no fracture plane. Long swarming cells, however, fractured easily along both the inner membrane and a second membrane, probably the outer membrane. The inner membrane had a typical profile, whereas the outer membrane had fewer but more prominent particles. Isolation and purification of the inner and outer membranes of the short and long bacteria and examination of them with electron paramagnetic resonance measurements after spinlabeling supported the above observations. The outer membrane of swarmer cells allowed higher mobility of the spin label than did the outer membrane of the nonswarming short cells, which showed a typical rigid profile. These results suggest that regions of lipid bilayer appear in the outer membrane during swarmer formation. Previous observation of the behavior and biochemistry of P. mirabilis during swarming are discussed in light of these results.