Direct measurement of free Ca2+ shows different regulation of Ca2+ between the periplasm and the cytosol of Escherichia coli

As in eukaryotes, bacterial free Ca2+ Can play an important role as an intracellular signal. However, because free Ca2+ is difficult to measure in live bacteria, most of the evidence for such a role is indirect. Gram-negative bacteria also have an outer membrane separating the external fluid from the periplasm as well as the cytosol where most bacterial metabolism takes place. Here we report, for the first time, direct measurement of free Ca2+ in the periplasmic space of living Escherichia coli. Periplasmic free Ca2+ was measured by targeting the Ca2+-activated photoprotein aequorin to this compartment using the N-terminal OmpT signal sequence. Cytosolic free Ca2+ was determined using aequorin alone. We show that, under certain conditions, the periplasm can concentrate free Ca2+, resulting in the inner membrane being exposed to free Ca2+ concentrations several fold higher than in the bulk external fluid. Manipulation of periplasmic membrane-derived oligosaccharicles (MDOs) altered the free Ca2+ as predicted by the Donnan potential. With micromolar concentrations of external free Ca2+, the periplasm concentrated free Ca2+ some three to sixfold with respect to the external medium. A Ca2+ gradient also existed between the periplasm and the cytosol under these conditions, the periplasmic free Ca2+ being some one to threefold higher. At millimolar levels of external free Ca2+, a similar concentration was detected in the periplasm, but the bacteria still maintained tight control of cytosolic free Ca2+ in the micromolar range. We propose that the highly anionic MDOs in the periplasmic space generate a Donnan potential, capable of concentrating Ca2+ in this compartment, where it may constitute a sink for regulation of Ca2+-dependent processes in the cytoplasm. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.