scholarly journals Structures of type IV pilins from Thermus thermophilus demonstrate similarities with type II secretion system pseudopilins

2016 ◽  
Vol 196 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijaykumar Karuppiah ◽  
Angela Thistlethwaite ◽  
Jeremy P. Derrick
2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (14) ◽  
pp. 5022-5033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Han ◽  
Ruth M. Kennan ◽  
Dane Parker ◽  
John K. Davies ◽  
Julian I. Rood

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to develop an understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which type IV fimbrial biogenesis, natural transformation, and protease secretion are linked in the ovine foot rot pathogen, Dichelobacter nodosus. We have shown that like the D. nodosus fimbrial subunit FimA, the pilin-like protein PilE and the FimN, FimO, and FimP proteins, which are homologs of PilB, PilC, and PilD from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are essential for fimbrial biogenesis and natural transformation, indicating that transformation requires an intact type IV fimbrial apparatus. The results also showed that extracellular protease secretion in the fimN, fimO, fimP, and pilE mutants was significantly reduced, which represents the first time that PilB, PilC, and PilE homologs have been shown to be required for the secretion of unrelated extracellular proteins in a type IV fimbriate bacterium. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of the three extracellular protease genes aprV2, aprV5, and bprV showed that the effects on protease secretion were not mediated at the transcriptional level. Bioinformatic analysis did not identify a classical type II secretion system, and the putative fimbrial biogenesis gene pilQ was the only outer membrane secretin gene identified. Based on these results, it is postulated that in D. nodosus, protease secretion occurs by a type II secretion-related process that directly involves components of the type IV fimbrial biogenesis machinery, which represents the only type II secretion system encoded by the small genome of this highly evolved pathogen.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debnath Ghosal ◽  
Ki Woo Kim ◽  
Huaixin Zheng ◽  
Mohammed Kaplan ◽  
Joseph P. Vogel ◽  
...  

AbstractThe type II secretion system (T2SS) is a multi-protein envelope-spanning assembly that translocates a wide range of virulence factors, enzymes and effectors through the outer membrane (OM) of many Gram-negative bacteria. Here, using electron cryotomography and subtomogram averaging methods, we present the first in situ structure of an intact T2SS, imaged within the human pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Although the T2SS has only limited sequence and component homology with the evolutionarily-related Type IV pilus (T4P) system, we show that their overall architectures are remarkably similar. Despite similarities, there are also differences, including for instance that the T2SS-ATPase complex is usually present but disengaged from the inner membrane, the T2SS has a much longer periplasmic vestibule, and it has a short-lived flexible pseudopilus. Placing atomic models of the components into our ECT map produced a complete architectural model of the intact T2SS that provides new insights into the structure and function of its components, its position within the cell envelope, and the interactions between its different subcomplexes. Overall, these structural results strongly support the piston model for substrate extrusion.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian A Escobar ◽  
Badreddine Douzi ◽  
Geneviève Ball ◽  
Brice Barbat ◽  
Sebastien Alphonse ◽  
...  

The type IV filament superfamily comprises widespread membrane-associated polymers in prokaryotes. The Type II secretion system (T2SS), a significant virulence pathway in many pathogens, belongs to this superfamily. A knowledge gap in understanding of the T2SS is the molecular role of a small 'pseudopilin' protein. Using multiple biophysical techniques, we have deciphered how this missing component of the Xcp T2SS architecture is structurally integrated, and thereby also unlocked its function. We demonstrate that the low abundance XcpH is the adapter that bridges a trimeric initiating tip complex XcpIJK with a periplasmic filament of XcpG subunits. Our model reveals that each pseudopilin protein caps an XcpG protofilament in an overall pseudopilus compatible with dimensions of the periplasm and the outer membrane-spanning secretin through which substrates of the T2SS pass. Unexpectedly, to fulfill its adapter function, the XcpH N-terminal helix must be unwound, a property shared with XcpG subunits. We provide the first complete structural model of a type IV filament, a result immediately transferable to understanding of other T2SS and the type IV pili.


2012 ◽  
Vol 287 (12) ◽  
pp. 9072-9080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Gu ◽  
Geoff Kelly ◽  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
Tom Frenkiel ◽  
Vladimir E. Shevchik ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake D. Callaghan ◽  
Nicholas A. Stella ◽  
Kara M. Lehner ◽  
Benjamin R. Treat ◽  
Kimberly M. Brothers ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTTunable control of gene expression is an invaluable tool for biological experiments. In this study, we describe a new xylose-inducible promoter system and evaluate it in both Pseudomonas aeruginosa and P. fluorescens. The Pxut promoter derived from the P. flurorescens xut operon was incorporated into a broad host-range pBBR1-based plasmid and compared to the Escherichia coli-derived PBAD promoter using gfp as a reporter. GFP-fluorescence from the Pxut promoter was inducible in both Pseudomonas species, but not in E. coli, which may facilitate cloning of toxic genes using E. coli to generate plasmids. The Pxut promoter was expressed at a lower inducer concentration than PBAD in P. fluorescens and higher gfp levels were achieved using Pxut. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that Pxut was more leaky than PBAD in the tested Pseudomonas species, but was expressed in a higher proportion of cells when induced. D-xylose did not support growth of P. aeruginosa or P. fluorescens as a sole carbon source and is less expensive than many other commonly used inducers which could facilitate large scale applications. The efficacy of this system aided in demonstrating a role for the P. aeruginosa type II secretion system gene from xcpQ in bacterial inhibition of corneal epithelial cell wound closure. This study introduces a new inducible promoter system for gene expression for use in Pseudomonas species.ImportancePseudomonas species are enormously important in human infections, biotechnology, and as a model system for interrogating basic science questions. In this study we have developed a xylose-inducible promoter system and evaluated it in P. aeruginosa and P. fluorescens and found it to be suitable for the strong induction of gene expression. Furthermore, we have demonstrated its efficacy in controlled gene expression to show that a type 2 secretion system protein from P. aeruginosa, XcpQ, is important for host-pathogen interactions in a corneal wound closure model.


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