Abstract: | Less than 20% of the Escherichia coli maltose-binding protein (MBP) synthesized in Bacillus subtilis is exported. However, a portion of the secreted MBP was processed cotranslationally. Coexpression of SecB, a secretion-related chaperone of E. coli, stimulated posttranslational export of MBP in B. subtilis but inhibited its cotranslational processing. Export of a SecB-independent MBP-ribose-binding protein hybrid precursor was not enhanced by SecB. A slowly folding MBP derivative (MBP-Y283D) was more efficiently secreted than wild-type MBP, suggesting that the antifolding activity of SecB promotes posttranslational secretion of MBP in B. subtilis. |