Sensing of intracellular Hcp levels controls T6SS expression in Vibrio cholerae.

ABSTRACT: The type 6 secretion system (T6SS) is a bacterial weapon broadly distributed in gram-negative bacteria and used to kill competitors and predators. Featuring a long and double-tubular structure, this molecular machine is energetically costly to produce and thus is likely subject to diverse regulation strategies that are largely ill defined. In this study, we report a quantity-sensing control of the T6SS that down-regulates the expression of secreted components when they accumulate in the cytosol due to T6SS inactivation. Using Vibrio cholerae strains that constitutively express an active T6SS, we demonstrate that mRNA levels of secreted components, including the inner-tube protein component Hcp, were down-regulated in T6SS structural gene mutants while expression of the main structur

SUBMITTER: Manera K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8237632 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature