The Vibrio cholerae minor pilin TcpB mediates uptake of the cholera toxin phage CTXφ.

ABSTRACT: Virulent strains of the bacterial pathogen Vibrio cholerae cause the diarrheal disease cholera by releasing cholera toxin into the small intestine. V. cholerae acquired its cholera toxin genes by lysogenic infection with the filamentous bacteriophage CTXφ. CTXφ uses its minor coat protein pIII, located in multiple copies at the phage tip, to bind to the V. cholerae toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP). However, the molecular details of this interaction and the mechanism of phage internalization are not well-understood. The TCP filament is a polymer of major pilins, TcpA, and one or more minor pilin, TcpB. TCP are retractile, with both retraction and assembly initiated by TcpB. Consistent with these roles in pilus dynamics, we hypothesized that TcpB controls both binding and i

SUBMITTER: Gutierrez-Rodarte M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6816102 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature