Disrupted ompC Causes Osmosis Sensitivity of Escherichia coli in Alkaline Medium

The Escherichia coli strain DH42 is sensitive to high osmolarity in an alkaline medium. Using mini-Tn5 mutagenesis, construction of mutant strains by homologous recombination and subcloning of DNA fragment techniques, gene ompC was identified as the key factor that, once disrupted, caused osmosis-sensitivity of E. coli strain DH42 grown in an alkaline medium. Through P1 transduction, a mutant strain, D9 (W3110 ompC:kan), was constructed and growth comparison was performed between DH42 and D9 under different pHs and salt concentrations. The result showed that ompC was necessarily required for hyperosmotic adaptation of E. coli in the alkaline medium.