IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-14951-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A comparative genomics methodology reveals a widespread family of membrane-disrupting T6SS effectors

Author

Listed:
  • Chaya M. Fridman

    (Tel Aviv University)

  • Kinga Keppel

    (Tel Aviv University)

  • Motti Gerlic

    (Tel Aviv University)

  • Eran Bosis

    (ORT Braude College of Engineering)

  • Dor Salomon

    (Tel Aviv University)

Abstract

Gram-negative bacteria deliver effectors via the type VI secretion system (T6SS) to outcompete their rivals. Each bacterial strain carries a different arsenal of effectors; the identities of many remain unknown. Here, we present an approach to identify T6SS effectors encoded in bacterial genomes of interest, without prior knowledge of the effectors’ domain content or genetic neighborhood. Our pipeline comprises a comparative genomics analysis followed by screening using a surrogate T6SS+ strain. Using this approach, we identify an antibacterial effector belonging to the T6SS1 of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, representing a widespread family of T6SS effectors sharing a C-terminal domain that we name Tme (Type VI membrane-disrupting effector). Tme effectors function in the periplasm where they intoxicate bacteria by disrupting membrane integrity. We believe our approach can be scaled up to identify additional T6SS effectors in various bacterial genera.

Suggested Citation

  • Chaya M. Fridman & Kinga Keppel & Motti Gerlic & Eran Bosis & Dor Salomon, 2020. "A comparative genomics methodology reveals a widespread family of membrane-disrupting T6SS effectors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14951-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14951-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14951-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-14951-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Katarzyna Kanarek & Chaya Mushka Fridman & Eran Bosis & Dor Salomon, 2023. "The RIX domain defines a class of polymorphic T6SS effectors and secreted adaptors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Danielle Miller & Adi Stern & David Burstein, 2022. "Deciphering microbial gene function using natural language processing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14951-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.