Regulation of type VI secretion system during Burkholderia pseudomallei infection

Infect Immun. 2011 Aug;79(8):3064-73. doi: 10.1128/IAI.05148-11. Epub 2011 Jun 13.

Abstract

Type III and type VI secretion systems (T3SSs and T6SSs, respectively) are critical virulence determinants in several Gram-negative pathogens. In Burkholderia pseudomallei, the T3SS-3 and T6SS-1 clusters have been implicated in bacterial virulence in mammalian hosts. We recently discovered a regulatory cascade that coordinately controls the expression of T3SS-3 and T6SS-1. BsaN is a central regulator located within T3SS-3 for the expression of T3SS-3 effectors and regulators for T6SS-1 such as VirA-VirG (VirAG) and BprC. Whereas T6SS-1 gene expression was completely dependent on BprC when bacteria were grown in medium, the expression inside host cells was dependent on the two-component sensor-regulator VirAG, with the exception of the tssAB operon, which was dependent primarily on BprC. VirAG and BprC initiate different transcriptional start sites within T6SS-1, and VirAG is able to activate the hcp1 promoter directly. We also provided novel evidence that virAG, bprC, and tssAB are critical for T6SS-1 function in macrophages. Furthermore, virAG and bprC regulator mutants were avirulent in mice, demonstrating the absolute dependence of T6SS-1 expression on these regulators in vivo.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Burkholderia Infections / microbiology
  • Burkholderia Infections / pathology*
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei / genetics
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei / metabolism*
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei / pathogenicity*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial*
  • Macromolecular Substances / metabolism*
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Rodent Diseases / microbiology
  • Rodent Diseases / pathology
  • Signal Transduction
  • Trans-Activators / metabolism*
  • Virulence
  • Virulence Factors / metabolism

Substances

  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Trans-Activators
  • Virulence Factors