A Potential Late Stage Intermediate of Twin-Arginine Dependent Protein Translocation in .

The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system transports folded proteins across membranes of prokaryotes, plant plastids, and some mitochondria. According to blue-native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after solubilization with digitonin, distinct interactions between the components TatA, TatB, and TatC result in two major TatBC-containing complexes in that can bind protein substrates. We now report the first detection of a TatABC complex that likely represents the state at which transport occurs.