Categorization of Escherichia coli outer membrane proteins by dependence on accessory proteins of the β-barrel assembly machinery complex

The outer membrane (OM) of gram-negative bacteria is populated by various outer membrane proteins (OMPs) that fold into a unique β-barrel transmembrane domain. Most OMPs are assembled into the OM by the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) complex. In Escherichia coli, the BAM complex is composed of two essential proteins (BamA and BamD) and three nonessential accessory proteins (BamB, BamC, and BamE). The currently proposed molecular mechanisms of the BAM complex involve only essential subunits, with the function of the accessory proteins remaining largely unknown. Here, we compared the accessory protein requirements for the assembly of seven different OMPs, 8- to 22-stranded, by our in vitro reconstitution assay using an E. coli mid-density membrane. BamE was responsible for the full efficiency of the assembly of all tested OMPs, as it enhanced the stability of essential subunit binding. BamB increased the assembly efficiency of more than 16-stranded OMPs, whereas BamC was not required for the assembly of any tested OMPs. Our categorization of the requirements of BAM complex accessory proteins in the assembly of substrate OMPs enables us to identify potential targets for the development of new antibiotics.