Abstract

The coupling of bacterial S-layer proteins to phospholipid membranes has been studied in molecular detail with respect to, particularly, the lipid headgroups. Emphasis has been laid on two of the best characterized protein species, the S-layer protein from Bacillus sphaericus CCM2177 and from Bacillus coagulans E38–66/V1. A combination of fluorescence microscopy, surface sensitive scattering techniques (grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction as well as X-ray and neutron reflectometry) and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IRRAS), applied to surface monolayers of lipids onto which the protein has been reconstituted as continuous molecular crystal sheets, provides a wealth of information which has been utilized to propose detailed molecular models.