Publication Date:
2011-07-06
Description:
The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria provides an effective barrier to their often-harsh extracellular milieu. In particular, the outer leaflet of the OM is not a canonical monolayer of phospholipids. Rather, it is composed of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a molecule generally consisting of a core of Lipid A decorated with inner and outer core oligosaccharides. The oligosaccharides extend ∼30 Å above the plane of the lipid headgroups of the outer leaflet. As such, it is an effective permeability barrier against potentially harmful compounds (1). However, obviously, permeability is required for bacterial survival; no bacterium is an island, as it were....
Print ISSN:
0027-8424
Electronic ISSN:
1091-6490
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
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