Conditional toxicity and synergy drive diversity among antibacterial effectors.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria in polymicrobial habitats contend with a persistent barrage of competitors, often under rapidly changing environmental conditions ¹ . The direct antagonism of competitor cells is thus an important bacterial survival strategy ² . Towards this end, many bacterial species employ an arsenal of antimicrobial effectors with multiple activities; however, the benefits conferred by the simultaneous deployment of diverse toxins are unknown. Here we show that the multiple effectors delivered to competitor bacteria by the type VI secretion system (T6SS) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa display conditional efficacy and act synergistically. One of these effectors, Tse4, is most active in high-salinity environments and synergizes with effectors that degrade the cell wall or inacti

SUBMITTER: LaCourse KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5876133 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature