Proline and glycine residues are well represented among functionally important residues in hydrophobic domains of membrane transport proteins and several critical roles have been suggested for them. Here, the effects of mutational changes in membrane-embedded proline and glycine residues of Tet(L) were examined, with a focus on the conserved GP 155,156 dipeptide of Motif C, a putative "antiporter motif". Mutation of Gly 155 to cysteine resulted in a mutant Tet(L) that bound its tetracycline-divalent metal (Tc-Me 2+ ) substrate but did not catalyze efflux or exchange of TcMe 2+ or catalyze uptake or exchange of Rb + which was used to monitor the coupling ion. These results support suggestions that this region is involved in the conformational changes required for translocation. Mutations in Pro 156 resulted in reduction (P156G) or loss (P156A or C) of Tc-Me 2+ efflux capacity. All three Pro 156 mutants exhibited a K + leak (monitored by 86 Rb + fluxes) that was not observed in wild type Tet(L). A similar leak was observed in a mutant in a membrane-embedded proline residue elsewhere in the Tet(L) protein (P175C) as well as in a P156C mutant of related antiporter Tet(K). These findings are consistent with roles proposed for membrane-embedded prolines in tight helix packing. Patterns of Tc-resistance conferred by additional Tet(L) mutants indicate important roles for another GP dipeptide in transmembrane segment (TMS) X as well as for membrane-embedded glycine residues in TMS XIII.Almost all transport proteins have membrane-embedded proline residues in some of the multiple α-helices that are a general feature of transporters (1). These residues are preferentially paired with glycine residues that are also found in abundance in TMS 1 of transporters (2,3). Membrane-embedded proline and glycine residues of transporters are hypothesized to promote helix kinks and swivels that play crucial roles in the conformational flexibility required for transport mechanisms (2-6). They are further hypothesized to have roles in helix packing and association (7-9). These hypotheses have been stunningly supported for the largest family of membrane transport proteins, the MFS, a family of structurally related transporters of prokaryotes and eukaryotes that includes uniporters, antiporters and symporters. The MFS comprises about a quarter of all transport proteins (10,11). The first three high resolution