periplasmic space
The region between the inner (cytoplasmic) and outer membrane (Gram-negative Bacteria) or cytoplasmic membrane and cell wall (Fungi and Gram-positive Bacteria). [GO:0042597]
Synonyms: periplasm
Part of: GO:0005576 — extracellular region (no local record)
Xrefs: uniprot.location:SL-0200 — Periplasm
Canonical examples
NCBITaxon:562Escherichia coli — Canonical Gram-negative model whose periplasm lies between the cytoplasmic and outer membranes and houses the thin peptidoglycan wall. [DOI:10.1101/cshperspect.a000414]NCBITaxon:1280Staphylococcus aureus — Gram-positive model in which cryo-electron microscopy resolved a native periplasmic space between the plasma membrane and thick wall. [PMID:16428405]
Discussions
- INTERPRETATION (RESOLVED): Keep the generic periplasmic space record separate from the outer membrane-bounded periplasmic space record. GO:0042597 is the broader periplasmic-space class covering Gram-negative, Gram-positive, and fungal topologies, while GO:0030288 is the narrower outer membrane-bounded subclass.
- INTERPRETATION (RESOLVED): Do not list boundary membranes or walls as taxon-agnostic components of the generic periplasmic space. The periplasmic space is the region delimited by envelope layers; the delimiting layers vary across Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria, and fungi and are not uniformly contained by the generic region.
Evidence
GO:0042597Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the generic periplasmic space, with the exact synonym periplasm and the UniProt Subcellular Location xref SL-0200.uniprot.location:SL-0200— Periplasm UniProt Subcellular Location entry for Periplasm, mapped to GO:0042597.DOI:10.1101/cshperspect.a000414Silhavy, Kahne and Walker 2010 review the Gram-negative envelope, where the periplasm lies between the inner and outer membranes.PMID:16428405Matias and Beveridge 2006 used cryo-electron microscopy to visualize the native cell-wall organization and periplasmic space in Staphylococcus aureus.
Curation history
2026-09-22T22:02:13Zcodex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py2026-09-22T22:02:59Zcodex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added the GO exact synonym, GO extracellular-region parentage, the UniProt Subcellular Location xref, E. coli and S. aureus canonical examples, source evidence, and resolved modelling discussions separating the generic periplasmic space from its outer membrane-bounded subtype and variable envelope boundaries.2026-09-22T22:14:24Zcodex · ADDRESSED_PR_REVIEW — Addressed PR #1327 review issue #1328 by moving the GO:0005576 extracellular-region relation from parent_structures to part_of so it matches the Gene Ontology relationship.