Purification and characterization of an 'actomyosin' complex from Escherichia coli W3110.

An 'actomyosin' complex was purified from Escherichia coli W3110 using selective precipitation. The complex contains three major components of 19.5, 18.5 and 17 kDa. The 19.5- and 17-kDa proteins were purified by electroelution, peptide mapped and N-terminally sequenced. The structural gene for the 17-kDa protein was found to have been previously identified in an operon containing several other genes including the essential lpxA, lpxB and dnaE. The possible function of the 17-kDa protein and the other 'actomyosin' components is discussed.