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Bryant OJ, Fraser GM. Identification of a new export signal that targets early subunits to the flagellar type III secretion export machinery. mBio 2024; 15:e0306723. [PMID: 38376149 PMCID: PMC10936197 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.03067-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Type III secretion systems (T3SSs) are essential for motility and virulence in many bacterial pathogens. Proteins destined for the flagellar T3SS contain at least two export signals in their N-terminal D0 domain. Here, we describe a third carboxy (C)-terminal signal in early flagellar subunits that facilitates subunit targeting to the export machinery. Mutational analysis identified critical residues within the flagellar hook subunit C-terminal export signal. The flagellar ATPase and cytoplasmic ring components were not required for this targeting, indicating that core export machinery components facilitate substrate targeting via the C-terminal export signal. More broadly, these results demonstrate that multiple distinct export signals within type III secretion substrates facilitate distinct export events at the T3SS export machinery. Our data establish key events in the export mechanism of type III secretion systems: targeting of subunits to and their sequential interactions with key components of the export machinery. IMPORTANCE Many bacterial pathogens utilize T3SS to inject virulence proteins (effectors) into host cells or to assemble flagella on the bacterial cell surface. Bacterial flagella present a paradigm for how cells build and operate complex cell-surface "nanomachines." Efficient subunit targeting from the bacterial cytosol to type III secretion systems is essential for rapid assembly and secretion by T3SSs. Subunits are thought to dock at the export machinery before being unfolded and translocated into the export channel. However, little is known about how subunits dock at the export machinery and the events that occur post docking. Here, we identified a new export signal within the C-termini of subunits that is essential for targeting of subunits to the type III export machinery. We show that this new export signal and previously identified export signals are recognized separately and sequentially, revealing a pathway for subunit transit through the type III export machinery in which sequential recognition events carry out different roles at major steps in the export pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Owain J. Bryant
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Center for Structural Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Gillian M. Fraser
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Bryant OJ, Lastovka F, Powell J, Chung BYW. The distinct translational landscapes of gram-negative Salmonella and gram-positive Listeria. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8167. [PMID: 38071303 PMCID: PMC10710512 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43759-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Translational control in pathogenic bacteria is fundamental to gene expression and affects virulence and other infection phenotypes. We used an enhanced ribosome profiling protocol coupled with parallel transcriptomics to capture accurately the global translatome of two evolutionarily distant pathogenic bacteria-the Gram-negative bacterium Salmonella and the Gram-positive bacterium Listeria. We find that the two bacteria use different mechanisms to translationally regulate protein synthesis. In Salmonella, in addition to the expected correlation between translational efficiency and cis-regulatory features such as Shine-Dalgarno (SD) strength and RNA secondary structure around the initiation codon, our data reveal an effect of the 2nd and 3rd codons, where the presence of tandem lysine codons (AAA-AAA) enhances translation in both Salmonella and E. coli. Strikingly, none of these features are seen in efficiently translated Listeria transcripts. Instead, approximately 20% of efficiently translated Listeria genes exhibit 70 S footprints seven nt upstream of the authentic start codon, suggesting that these genes may be subject to a novel translational initiation mechanism. Our results show that SD strength is not a direct hallmark of translational efficiency in all bacteria. Instead, Listeria has evolved additional mechanisms to control gene expression level that are distinct from those utilised by Salmonella and E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Owain J Bryant
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QP, UK
- Centre for Structural Biology, National Cancer Institute, 21702, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Filip Lastovka
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QP, UK
| | - Jessica Powell
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QP, UK
| | - Betty Y-W Chung
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QP, UK.
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Rossi P, Xing Q, Bini E, Portaliou AG, Clay MC, Warren EM, Khanra NK, Economou A, Kalodimos CG. Chaperone Recycling in Late-Stage Flagellar Assembly. J Mol Biol 2023; 435:167954. [PMID: 37330284 PMCID: PMC10471782 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.167954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The flagellum is a sophisticated nanomachine responsible for motility in Gram-negative bacteria. Flagellar assembly is a strictly choreographed process, in which the motor and export gate are formed first, followed by the extracellular propeller structure. Extracellular flagellar components are escorted to the export gate by dedicated molecular chaperones for secretion and self-assembly at the apex of the emerging structure. The detailed mechanisms of chaperone-substrate trafficking at the export gate remain poorly understood. Here, we structurally characterized the interaction of Salmonella enterica late-stage flagellar chaperones FliT and FlgN with the export controller protein FliJ. Previous studies showed that FliJ is absolutely required for flagellar assembly since its interaction with chaperone-client complexes controls substrate delivery to the export gate. Our biophysical and cell-based data show that FliT and FlgN bind FliJ cooperatively, with high affinity and on specific sites. Chaperone binding completely disrupts the FliJ coiled-coil structure and alters its interactions with the export gate. We propose that FliJ aids the release of substrates from the chaperone and forms the basis of chaperone recycling during late-stage flagellar assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Rossi
- Deparment of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, United States
| | - Qiong Xing
- State Key Laboratory of Bio-catalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Elisabetta Bini
- Deparment of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, United States
| | - Athina G Portaliou
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mary C Clay
- Deparment of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, United States
| | - Eric M Warren
- Deparment of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, United States
| | - Nandish K Khanra
- Deparment of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, United States
| | - Anastassios Economou
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Charalampos G Kalodimos
- Deparment of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, United States.
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Chen P, Goldberg MB. Recent insights into type-3 secretion system injectisome structure and mechanism of human enteric pathogens. Curr Opin Microbiol 2023; 71:102232. [PMID: 36368294 PMCID: PMC10510281 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2022.102232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Type-3 secretion system injectisomes are multiprotein complexes that translocate bacterial effector proteins from the cytoplasm of gram-negative bacteria directly into the cytosol of eukaryotic host cells. These systems are present in more than 30 bacterial species, including numerous human, animal, and plant pathogens. We review recent discoveries of structural and molecular mechanisms of effector protein translocation through the injectisomes and recent advances in the understanding of mechanisms of activation of effector protein secretion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Poyin Chen
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marcia B Goldberg
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Bryant OJ, Dhillon P, Hughes C, Fraser GM. Recognition of discrete export signals in early flagellar subunits during bacterial Type III secretion. eLife 2022; 11:66264. [PMID: 35238774 PMCID: PMC8983047 DOI: 10.7554/elife.66264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Type III Secretion Systems (T3SS) deliver subunits from the bacterial cytosol to nascent cell surface flagella. Early flagellar subunits that form the rod and hook substructures are unchaperoned and contain their own export signals. A gate recognition motif (GRM) docks them at the FlhBc component of the FlhAB-FliPQR export gate, but the gate must then be opened and subunits must be unfolded to pass through the flagellar channel. This induced us to seek further signals on the subunits. Here, we identify a second signal at the extreme N-terminus of flagellar rod and hook subunits and determine that key to the signal is its hydrophobicity. We show that the two export signal elements are recognised separately and sequentially, as the N-terminal signal is recognised by the flagellar export machinery only after subunits have docked at FlhBC via the GRM. The position of the N-terminal hydrophobic signal in the subunit sequence relative to the GRM appeared to be important, as a FlgD deletion variant (FlgDshort), in which the distance between the N-terminal signal and the GRM was shortened, 'stalled' at the export machinery and was not exported. The attenuation of motility caused by FlgDshort was suppressed by mutations that destabilised the closed conformation of the FlhAB-FliPQR export gate, suggesting that the hydrophobic N-terminal signal might trigger opening of the flagellar export gate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Owain J Bryant
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Paraminder Dhillon
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Colin Hughes
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Gillian M Fraser
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Bryant OJ, Fraser GM. Regulation of bacterial Type III Secretion System export gate opening by substrates and the FliJ stalk of the flagellar ATPase. FEBS J 2021; 289:2628-2641. [PMID: 34812581 DOI: 10.1111/febs.16294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Type III Secretion Systems (T3SS) transport proteins from the bacterial cytosol for assembly into cell surface nanomachines or direct delivery into target eukaryotic cells. At the core of the flagellar T3SS, the FlhAB-FliPQR export gate regulates protein entry into the export channel whilst maintaining the integrity of the cell membrane. Here, we identify critical residues in the export gate FliR plug that stabilise the closed conformation, preserving the membrane permeability barrier, and we show that the gate opens and closes in response to export substrate availability. Our data indicate that FlhAB-FliPQR gate opening, which is triggered by substrate export signals, is energised by FlhA in a proton motive force-dependent manner. We present evidence that the export substrate and the FliJ stalk of the flagellar ATPase provide mechanistically distinct, non-redundant gate-activating signals that are critical for efficient export.
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