ON THE MECHANISM OF THE OSMOSTABILIZATION OF HALOBACTERIAL CELLS BY ACIDIC SHOCK

The products of the osmolysis of halobacterial cells and acidification of the medium were shown to additively increase the resistance of hal obacteria to hypoosmotic shock. The increase in osmostability produced by acidification of the medium was considerably more pronounced for c ells grown in the presence of osmolysate. The stabilizing effect of os molysate is presumably related to a decrease in the permeability of th e outer Slayer of halobacterial cells to protons, which leads to the f ormation of a local proton gradient and stabilization of the S-layer d ue to suppression of the dissociation of the acidic groups of constitu ent glycoproteins.