Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) can function as nanoscale vectors that mediate bacterial interactions in microbial communities. How bacteria recognize and recruit OMVs inter-specifically remains largely unknown, thus limiting our understanding of the complex physiological and ecological roles of OMVs. Here, we report a ligand-receptor interaction-based OMV recruitment mechanism, consisting of a type VI secretion system (T6SS)-secreted lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding effector TeoL and the outer membrane receptors CubA and CstR. We demonstrated that Cupriavidus necator T6SS1 secretes TeoL to preferentially associate with OMVs in the extracellular milieu through interactions with LPS, one of the most abundant components of OMVs. TeoL associated with OMVs can further bind outer membrane receptors CubA and CstR, which tethers OMVs to the recipient cells and allows cargo to be delivered. The LPS-mediated mechanism enables bacterial cells to recruit OMVs derived from different species, and confers advantages to bacterial cells in iron acquisition, interbacterial competition, and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Moreover, our findings provide multiple new perspectives on T6SS functionality in the context of bacterial competition and HGT, through the recruitment of OMVs.
Last. Xiao-Lei Wu(PKU: Peking University)H-Index: 34
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Microbes spontaneously release membrane vesicles (MVs), which play roles in nutrient acquisition and microbial interactions. Iron is indispensable for microbes, but is a difficult nutrient to acquire. However, whether MVs are also responsible for efficient iron uptake and therefore involved in microbial interaction remains to be elucidated. Here, we used a Gram-positive strain, Dietzia sp. DQ12-45-1b, to analyze the function of its MVs in heme-iron recycling and sharing between species. We deter...
Last. Xihui Shen(NWAFU: Northwest A&F University)H-Index: 22
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Bacterial type VI secretion systems (T6SSs) inject toxic effectors into adjacent eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. It is generally thought that this process requires physical contact between the two cells. Here, we provide evidence of contact-independent killing by a T6SS-secreted effector. We show that the pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis uses a T6SS (T6SS-3) to secrete a nuclease effector that kills other bacteria in vitro and facilitates gut colonization in mice. The effector (Tce1) is a ...
#1Luke P. Allsopp(NIH: National Institutes of Health)H-Index: 15
#2Patricia Bernal(UAM: Autonomous University of Madrid)H-Index: 16
Last. Alain Filloux(Imperial College London)H-Index: 72
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Microbiota niches have space and/or nutrient restrictions, which has led to the coevolution of cooperation, specialisation, and competition within the population. Different animal and environmental niches contain defined resident microbiota that tend to be stable over time and offer protection against undesired intruders. Yet fluxes can occur, which alter the composition of a bacterial population. In humans, the microbiota are now considered a key contributor to maintenance of health and homeost...
#2Tomomi Sawabe(OCU: Osaka City University)H-Index: 1
Last. Masayuki Azuma(OCU: Osaka City University)H-Index: 16
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Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are extracellular vesicles released from the surface of Gram-negative bacteria, including Escherichia coli. Several gene-deficient mutants relating to envelope stress (nlpI and degP) and phospholipid accumulation in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane (mlaA and mlaE) increase OMV production. This study examined the combinatorial deletion of these genes in E. coli and its effect on OMV production. The nlpI and mlaE double-gene-knockout mutant (DeltamlaEDeltanlpI...
Last. Guido Grandi(University of Trento)H-Index: 69
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Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) represent an interesting vaccine platform for their built-in adjuvanticity and simplicity of production process. Moreover, OMVs can be decorated with foreign antigens using different synthetic biology approaches. However, the optimal OMV engineering strategy, which should guarantee the OMV compartmentalization of most heterologous antigens in quantities high enough to elicit protective immune responses, remains to be validated. In this work we exploited t...
Last. Xihui Shen(NWAFU: Northwest A&F University)H-Index: 22
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The contact-dependent type VI secretion system (T6SS) in diverse microbes plays crucial roles in both inter-bacterial and bacteria-host interactions. As numerous microorganisms inhabit the intestinal ecosystem at a high density, it is necessary to consider the functions of T6SS in intestinal bacteria. In this mini-review, we discuss T6SS-dependent functions in intestinal microbes, including commensal microbes and enteric pathogens, and list experimentally verified species of intestinal bacteria ...
Last. Patricia Renesto(CNRS: Centre national de la recherche scientifique)H-Index: 25
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Francisella tularensis is the causative agent in tularemia for which the high prevalence of treatment failure and relapse is a major concern. Directed-evolution experiments revealed that acquisitio ...
: Cells from all three domains of life, Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya, produce extracellular vesicles (EVs) which are sometimes associated with filamentous structures known as nanopods or nanotubes. The mechanisms of EV biogenesis in the three domains remain poorly understood, although studies in Bacteria and Eukarya indicate that the regulation of lipid composition plays a major role in initiating membrane curvature. EVs are increasingly recognized as important mediators of intercellular commun...
Last. Christoph Keel(UNIL: University of Lausanne)H-Index: 59
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Pseudomonas protegens are multi-talented plant-colonizing bacteria that suppress plant pathogens and stimulate plant defenses. In addition, they are capable of invading and killing agriculturally important plant pest insects that makes them promising candidates for biocontrol applications. Here we assessed the role of type VI secretion system (T6SS) components of type strain CHA0 during interaction with larvae of the cabbage pest Pieris brassicae. We show that the T6SS core apparatus and two Vgr...
Last. Mingxiu Long(NWAFU: Northwest A&F University)H-Index: 8
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ABSTRACT Many bacteria secrete siderophores to enhance iron uptake under iron-restricted conditions. In this study, we found that Cupriavidus necator JMP134, a well-known aromatic pollutant-degrading bacterium, produces an unknown carboxylate-type siderophore named cupriabactin to overcome iron limitation. Using genome mining, targeted mutagenesis, and biochemical analysis, we discovered an operon containing six open reading frames (cubA–F) in the C. necator JMP134 genome that encodes proteins r...
Cellular ionic concentrations are a central factor orchestrating host innate immunity, but no pathogenic mechanism that perturbs host innate immunity by directly targeting metal ions has yet been described. Here, we report a unique virulence strategy of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Yptb) involving modulation of the availability of Mn2+, an immunostimulatory metal ion in host cells. We showed that the Yptb type VI secretion system (T6SS) delivered a micropeptide, TssS, into host cells to enhance ...
