Membranes of Rhodospirillum rubrum: isolation and physicochemical properties of membranes from aerobically grown cells.

Highly purified preparations of cytoplasmic and outer membrane were isolated from aerobically grown Rhodospirillum rubrum lysed by sequential treatment with lysozyme, ethylenediaminetetraacetate, and Brij 58. The membranes were resolved and separated from other cellular constitutents by a combination of velocity and isopyknic sedimentation in sucrose density gradients. On the basis of their appearance in electron micrographs and their protein profiles in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, these preparations appear to be quite similar to those obtained from other gram-negative bacteria. The cytoplasmic membrane fraction contained the majority of the total membrane-bound succinic dehydrogenase activity and was 10-fold enriched in b- and c-type cytochrome with respect to the outer membrane. The latter fraction was characterized by a much greater carbohydrate content and the presence of arachidic acid, which is typical of R. rubrum lipopolysaccharide. Their protein fatty acid, and overall chemical compositions suggested that these preparations were freer from cross-contamination than those obtained from R. rubrum with currently available methods.