RpoN/Sfa2-dependent activation of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa H2-T6SS and its cognate arsenal of antibacterial toxins.
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Published version
Author(s)
Allsopp, Luke P
Collins, Alice CZ
Hawkins, Eleanor
Wood, Thomas E
Filloux, Alain
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses three type six secretion systems (H1-, H2- and H3-T6SS) to manipulate its environment, subvert host cells and for microbial competition. These T6SS machines are loaded with a variety of effectors/toxins, many being associated with a specific VgrG. How P. aeruginosa transcriptionally coordinates the main T6SS clusters and the multiple vgrG islands spread through the genome is unknown. Here we show an unprecedented level of control with RsmA repressing most known T6SS-related genes. Moreover, each of the H2- and H3-T6SS clusters encodes a sigma factor activator (SFA) protein called, Sfa2 and Sfa3, respectively. SFA proteins are enhancer binding proteins necessary for the sigma factor RpoN. Using a combination of RNA-seq, ChIP-seq and molecular biology approaches, we demonstrate that RpoN coordinates the T6SSs of P. aeruginosa by activating the H2-T6SS but repressing the H1- and H3-T6SS. Furthermore, RpoN and Sfa2 control the expression of the H2-T6SS-linked VgrGs and their effector arsenal to enable very effective interbacterial killing. Sfa2 is specific as Sfa3 from the H3-T6SS cannot complement loss of Sfa2. Our study further delineates the regulatory mechanisms that modulate the deployment of an arsenal of T6SS effectors likely enabling P. aeruginosa to adapt to a range of environmental conditions.
Date Issued
2022-01-11
Date Acceptance
2021-12-16
Citation
Nucleic Acids Research, 2022, 50 (1), pp.227-243
ISSN
0305-1048
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
227
End Page
243
Journal / Book Title
Nucleic Acids Research
Volume
50
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34928327
PII: 6470684
Subjects
Developmental Biology
05 Environmental Sciences
06 Biological Sciences
08 Information and Computing Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2021-12-20