Saccharibacteria deploy two distinct type IV pili, driving episymbiosis, host competition, and twitching motility.

ABSTRACT: All cultivated Patescibacteria, also known as the candidate phyla radiation, are obligate episymbionts residing on other microbes. Despite being ubiquitous in many diverse environments, including mammalian microbiomes, molecular mechanisms of host identification and binding amongst ultrasmall bacterial episymbionts remain largely unknown. Type 4 pili are well conserved in this group and could potentially facilitate these symbiotic interactions. To test this hypothesis, we genetically targeted pili genes in Saccharibacteria Nanosynbacter lyticus strain TM7x to assess their essentiality and roles in symbiosis. Our results revealed that N. lyticus assembles two distinct type 4 pili: a nonessential thin pilus that has the smallest diameter of any type 4 pili and contributes to host-binding and

SUBMITTER: Grossman AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12206443 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature