Vibrio parahaemolyticus RhsP represents a widespread group of pro-effectors for type VI secretion systems.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Jiang N
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6156420 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Type VI secretion systems (T6SSs) are widespread, tightly regulated, protein delivery apparatuses used by Gram-negative bacteria to outcompete their neighbours. The pathogen, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, encodes two T6SSs. These T6SSs are differentially regulated by external conditions. T6SS1, an antibacterial system predominantly found in pathogenic isolates, requires warm marine-like conditions and surface sensing for activation. The regulatory network that governs this activation is not well understood. In this work, we devised a screening methodology that allows us to easily monitor the outcome of bacterial competitions and thus to identify mutants that are defective in T6SS1-mediated bacterial killing. The methodology, termed Bacterial Competition Fluorescence (BaCoF), relies on detection of a fluorescent signal as an indicator of the survival and growth of a T6SS-sensitive, GFP-expressing prey that has been co-cultured with mutants derived from a T6SS+ attacker of interest. Using BaCoF, we screened a random transposon insertion mutant library and identified genes required for V. parahaemolyticus T6SS1 activation, among them TfoY and Tmk. We used epistasis experiments to determine the relationships between the newly identified components and other regulators that were previously described. Thus, we present here a detailed biological understanding of the T6SS1 regulatory network.
| S-EPMC6618117 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vibrio cholerae is a diverse species of Gram-negative bacteria, commonly found in the aquatic environment and the causative agent of the potentially deadly disease cholera. These bacteria employ a type VI secretion system (T6SS) when they encounter prokaryotic and eukaryotic competitors. This contractile puncturing device translocates a set of effector proteins into neighboring cells. Translocated effectors are toxic unless the targeted cell produces immunity proteins that bind and deactivate incoming effectors. Comparison of multiple V. cholerae strains indicates that effectors are encoded in T6SS effector modules on mobile genetic elements. We identified a diverse group of chimeric T6SS adaptor proteins required for the translocation of diverse effectors encoded in modules. An example for a T6SS effector that requires T6SS adaptor protein 1 (Tap-1) is TseL found in pandemic V. cholerae O1 serogroup strains and other clinical isolates. We propose a model in which Tap-1 is required for loading TseL onto the secretion apparatus. After T6SS-mediated TseL export is completed, Tap-1 is retained in the bacterial cell to load other T6SS machines.
| S-EPMC4557670 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundVibrio parahaemolyticus AphA and OpaR are the two master quorum sensing (QS) regulators that are abundantly expressed at low cell density (LCD) and high cell density (HCD), respectively, with a feature of reciprocally gradient production of them with transition between LCD and HCD. The type VI secretion system 2 (T6SS2) gene cluster can be assigned into three putative operons, namely VPA1027-1024, VPA1043-1028, and VPA1044-1046. T6SS2 contributes to adhesion of V. parahaemolyticus to host cells.Methodology/principal findingsOpaR box-like sequences were found within the upstream promoter regions of all the above three operons, while none of AphA box-like elements could be identified for them. The subsequent primer extension, LacZ fusion, electrophoretic mobility shift, and DNase I footprinting assays disclosed that OpaR bound to the promoter regions of these three operons to stimulate their transcription, while AphA negatively regulated their transcription most likely through acting on OpaR. This regulation led to a gradient increase of T6SS2 transcription with transition from LCD to HCD.Conclusions/significanceV. parahaemolyticus OpaR and AphA positively and negatively regulate T6SS2 expression, respectively, leading to a gradient elevation of T6SS2 expression with transition from LCD to HCD. T6SS2 genes are thus assigned as the QS regulon members in V. parahaemolyticus.
| S-EPMC3744643 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vibrio cholerae, the etiological pathogen of cholera, employs its type VI secretion system (T6SS) as an effective weapon to survive in highly competitive communities. Antibacterial and anti-eukaryotic functions of the T6SS depend on its secreted effectors that target multiple cellular processes. However, the mechanisms that account for effector diversity and different effectiveness during interspecies competition remain elusive. Here we report that environmental cations and temperature play a key role in dictating cellular response and effector effectiveness during interspecies competition mediated by the T6SS of V. cholerae. We found that V. cholerae could employ its cell-wall-targeting effector TseH to outcompete the otherwise resistant Escherichia coli and the V. cholerae immunity deletion mutant ∆tsiH when Mg2+ or Ca2+ was supplemented. Transcriptome and genetic analyses demonstrate that the metal-sensing PhoPQ two-component system is important for Mg2+-dependent sensitivity. Competition analysis in infant mice shows that TseH was active under in vivo conditions. Using a panel of V. cholerae single-effector active mutants, we further show that E. coli also exhibited variable susceptibilities to other T6SS effectors depending on cations and temperatures, respectively. Lastly, V. cholerae effector VasX could sensitize Pseudomonas aeruginosa to its intrinsically resistant antibiotic irgasan in a temperature-dependent manner. Collectively, these findings suggest that abiotic factors, that V. cholerae frequently encounters in natural and host environments, could modulate cellular responses and dictate the competitive fitness conferred by the T6SS effectors in complex multispecies communities.
| S-EPMC9213406 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bacteria use diverse mechanisms to kill, manipulate, and compete with other cells. The recently discovered type VI secretion system (T6SS) is widespread in bacterial pathogens and used to deliver virulence effector proteins into target cells. Using comparative proteomics, we identified two previously unidentified T6SS effectors that contained a conserved motif. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that this N-terminal motif, named MIX (marker for type six effectors), is found in numerous polymorphic bacterial proteins that are primarily located in the T6SS genome neighborhood. We demonstrate that several MIX-containing proteins are T6SS effectors and that they are not required for T6SS activity. Thus, we propose that MIX-containing proteins are T6SS effectors. Our findings allow for the identification of numerous uncharacterized T6SS effectors that will undoubtedly lead to the discovery of new biological mechanisms.
| S-EPMC4078801 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is bacterial protein injection machinery with roles in virulence, symbiosis, interbacterial interaction, antipathogenesis, and environmental stress responses. There are two T6SS loci, T6SS1 and T6SS2, in the two chromosomes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, respectively. This work disclosed that the master quorum sensing (QS) regulator OpaR repressed the transcription of hcp1 encoding the structural component Hcp1 of T6SS1 in V. parahaemolyticus, indicating that QS had a negative regulatory action on T6SS1. A single ?(54)-dependent promoter was transcribed for hcp1 in V. parahaemolyticus, and its activity was repressed by the OpaR regulator. Since the OpaR protein could not bind to the upstream region of hcp1, OpaR would repress the transcription of hcp1 in an indirect manner.
| S-EPMC3417189 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a newly emerging shrimp disease that has severely damaged the global shrimp industry. AHPND is caused by toxic strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus that have acquired a "selfish plasmid" encoding the deadly binary toxins PirAvp/PirBvp To better understand the repertoire of virulence factors in AHPND-causing V. parahaemolyticus, we conducted a comparative analysis using the genome sequences of the clinical strain RIMD2210633 and of environmental non-AHPND and toxic AHPND isolates of V. parahaemolyticus Interestingly, we found that all of the AHPND strains, but none of the non-AHPND strains, harbor the antibacterial type VI secretion system 1 (T6SS1), which we previously identified and characterized in the clinical isolate RIMD2210633. This finding suggests that the acquisition of this T6SS might confer to AHPND-causing V. parahaemolyticus a fitness advantage over competing bacteria and facilitate shrimp infection. Additionally, we found highly dynamic effector loci in the T6SS1 of AHPND-causing strains, leading to diverse effector repertoires. Our discovery provides novel insights into AHPND-causing pathogens and reveals a potential target for disease control.IMPORTANCE Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a serious disease that has caused severe damage and significant financial losses to the global shrimp industry. To better understand and prevent this shrimp disease, it is essential to thoroughly characterize its causative agent, Vibrio parahaemolyticus Although the plasmid-encoded binary toxins PirAvp/PirBvp have been shown to be the primary cause of AHPND, it remains unknown whether other virulent factors are commonly present in V. parahaemolyticus and might play important roles during shrimp infection. Here, we analyzed the genome sequences of clinical, non-AHPND, and AHPND strains to characterize their repertoires of key virulence determinants. Our studies reveal that an antibacterial type VI secretion system is associated with the AHPND strains and differentiates them from non-AHPND strains, similar to what was seen with the PirA/PirB toxins. We propose that T6SS1 provides a selective advantage during shrimp infections.
| S-EPMC5478980 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundVibrio parahaemolyticus is a food-borne pathogen causing inflammation of the gastrointestinal epithelium. Pathogenic strains of this bacterium possess two Type III Secretion Systems (TTSS) that deliver effector proteins into host cells. In order to better understand human host cell responses to V. parahaemolyticus, the modulation of Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) activation in epithelial cells by an O3:K6 clinical isolate, RIMD2210633, was investigated. The importance of MAPK activation for the ability of the bacterium to be cytotoxic and to induce secretion of Interleukin-8 (IL-8) was determined.ResultsV. parahaemolyticus deployed its TTSS1 to induce activation of the JNK, p38 and ERK MAPK in human epithelial cells. VP1680 was identified as the TTSS1 effector protein responsible for MAPK activation in Caco-2 cells and the activation of JNK and ERK by this protein was important in induction of host cell death. V. parahaemolyticus actively induced IL-8 secretion in a response mediated by TTSS1. A role for VP1680 and for the ERK signalling pathway in the stimulation of IL-8 production in epithelial cells by V. parahaemolyticus was established. Interestingly, TTSS2 inhibited IL-8 mRNA transcription at early stages of interaction between the bacterium and the cell.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that V. parahaemolyticus activates the three major MAPK signalling pathways in intestinal epithelial cells in a TTSS1-dependent manner that involves the TTSS1 effector VP1680. Furthermore VP1680 and JNK and ERK activation were needed for maximal cytotoxicity of the bacterium. It was shown that V. parahaemolyticus is a strong inducer of IL-8 secretion and that induction reflects a balance between the effects of TTSS1 and TTSS2. Increases in IL-8 secretion were mediated by TTSS1 and VP1680, and augmented by ERK activation. These results shed light on the mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis mediated by TTSS and suggest significant roles for MAPK signalling during infection with V. parahaemolyticus.
| S-EPMC3022711 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In a process known as quorum sensing, bacteria communicate with one another by producing, releasing, detecting, and responding to signal molecules called autoinducers. Vibrio harveyi, a marine pathogen, uses two parallel quorum-sensing circuits, each consisting of an autoinducer-sensor pair, to control the expression of genes required for bioluminescence and a number of other target genes. Genetic screens designed to discover autoinducer-regulated targets in V. harveyi have revealed genes encoding components of a putative type III secretion (TTS) system. Using transcriptional reporter fusions and TTS protein localization studies, we show that the TTS system is indeed functional in V. harveyi and that expression of the genes encoding the secretion machinery requires an intact quorum-sensing signal transduction cascade. The newly completed genome of the closely related marine bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which is a human pathogen, shows that it possesses the genes encoding both of the V. harveyi-like quorum-sensing signaling circuits and that it also has a TTS system similar to that of V. harveyi. We show that quorum sensing regulates TTS in V. parahaemolyticus. Previous reports connecting quorum sensing to TTS in enterohemorrhagic and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli show that quorum sensing activates TTS at high cell density. Surprisingly, we find that at high cell density (in the presence of autoinducers), quorum sensing represses TTS in V. harveyi and V. parahaemolyticus.
| S-EPMC419960 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the leading cause of seafood-associated gastroenteritis, harbors two separate T6SSs on chromosomes 1 and 2, i.e., T6SS1 (VP1386-1420) and T6SS2 (VPA1025-1046). T6SS1 contains at least 7 putative operons: VP1386-1387, VP1388-1390, VP1392-1391, VP1393-1406, VP1400-1406, VP1409-1407, and VP1410-1420. V. parahaemolyticus AphA and OpaR are the two master regulators of quorum sensing (QS) system that are highly expressed at low cell density and high cell density, respectively. ToxR is a membrane-bound virulence regulatory protein conserved across the Vibrio family. In the present work, we show that ToxR coordinates with AphA and OpaR to repress T6SS1 expression in V. parahaemolyticus. OpaR binds to the promoters of VP1388-1390, VP1400-1406, and VP1409-1407 to repress their transcription, but it appears to negatively regulate VP1393-1406 transcription in an indirect manner. By contrast, AphA negatively regulated the above four T6SS1 operons in an indirect manner. In addition, ToxR binds to the promoters of VP1400-1406 and VP1409-1407 to inhibit their transcription, but it presents an indirect interaction with VP1388-1390 and VP1393-1406 promoters. Notably, the expression of ToxR also manifested in a QS-dependent manner and the highest expression occurred at LCD. Meanwhile, the highest expression of T6SS1 occurred at an OD600 value of 0.6 to 0.8 due to the tight regulation of ToxR and QS, suggesting T6SS1 functions only during the mid-logarithmic growth phase. These observations provide significant insight into the molecular mechanism of T6SS1 gene regulation by QS and ToxR in V. parahaemolyticus.
| S-EPMC5650642 | biostudies-literature