TY - JOUR
T1 - A type VI secretion-related pathway in bacteroidetes mediates interbacterial antagonism
AU - Russell, Alistair B.
AU - Wexler, Aaron G.
AU - Harding, Brittany N.
AU - Whitney, John C.
AU - Bohn, Alan J.
AU - Goo, Young Ah
AU - Tran, Bao Q.
AU - Barry, Natasha A.
AU - Zheng, Hongjin
AU - Peterson, S. Brook
AU - Chou, Seemay
AU - Gonen, Tamir
AU - Goodlett, David R.
AU - Goodman, Andrew L.
AU - Mougous, Joseph D.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank M. McBride and L. Comstock for sharing reagents and protocols necessary for generating the F. johnsoniae and B. fragilis mutants used in our study, M. LeRoux and R. Kirkpatrick for assistance with fluorescence microscopy, and members of the Mougous and Goodman laboratories for helpful discussions. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (AI080609 and AI105268 to J.D.M.; DK089121, GM103574, and GM105456 to A.L.G). Research in the Gonen laboratory is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Mass spectrometry analyses were supported by the University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Pharmacy Mass Spectrometry Center (SOP1841-IQB2014). A.B.R. was supported by the Josephine de Karman Fellowship Trust and the University of Washington Department of Microbiology Helen Whiteley Award. J.C.W. was supported by a postdoctoral research fellowship by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. A.J.B. was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (DGE-1256082). S.C. was supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship. J.D.M. holds an Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
PY - 2014/8/13
Y1 - 2014/8/13
N2 - Bacteroidetes are a phylum of Gram-negative bacteria abundant in mammalian-associated polymicrobial communities, where they impact digestion, immunity, and resistance to infection. Despite the extensive competition at high cell density that occurs in these settings, cell contact-dependent mechanisms of interbacterial antagonism, such as the type VI secretion system (T6SS), have not been defined in this group of organisms. Herein we report the bioinformatic and functional characterization of a T6SS-like pathway in diverse Bacteroidetes. Using prominent human gut commensal and soil-associated species, we demonstrate that these systems localize dynamically within the cell, export antibacterial proteins, and target competitor bacteria. The Bacteroidetes system is a distinct pathway with marked differences in gene content and high evolutionary divergence from the canonical T6S pathway. Our findings offer a potential molecular explanation for the abundance of Bacteroidetes in polymicrobial environments, the observed stability of Bacteroidetes in healthy humans, and the barrier presented by the microbiota against pathogens.
AB - Bacteroidetes are a phylum of Gram-negative bacteria abundant in mammalian-associated polymicrobial communities, where they impact digestion, immunity, and resistance to infection. Despite the extensive competition at high cell density that occurs in these settings, cell contact-dependent mechanisms of interbacterial antagonism, such as the type VI secretion system (T6SS), have not been defined in this group of organisms. Herein we report the bioinformatic and functional characterization of a T6SS-like pathway in diverse Bacteroidetes. Using prominent human gut commensal and soil-associated species, we demonstrate that these systems localize dynamically within the cell, export antibacterial proteins, and target competitor bacteria. The Bacteroidetes system is a distinct pathway with marked differences in gene content and high evolutionary divergence from the canonical T6S pathway. Our findings offer a potential molecular explanation for the abundance of Bacteroidetes in polymicrobial environments, the observed stability of Bacteroidetes in healthy humans, and the barrier presented by the microbiota against pathogens.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84921894836&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chom.2014.07.007
DO - 10.1016/j.chom.2014.07.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 25070807
AN - SCOPUS:84921894836
SN - 1931-3128
VL - 16
SP - 227
EP - 236
JO - Cell Host and Microbe
JF - Cell Host and Microbe
IS - 2
ER -