TagF-mediated repression of bacterial type VI secretion systems involves a direct interaction with the cytoplasmic protein Fha
File(s)Lin_et_al TagF JBC R1 final 2018 combined.pdf (5.34 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) delivers effectors into eukaryotic host cells or toxins into bacterial competitor for survival and fitness. The T6SS is positively regulated by the threonine phosphorylation pathway (TPP) and negatively by the T6SS-accessory protein TagF. Here, we studied the mechanisms underlying TagF-mediated T6SS repression in two distinct bacterial pathogens, Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found that in A. tumefaciens, T6SS toxin secretion and T6SS-dependent antibacterial activity are suppressed by a two-domain chimeric protein consisting of TagF and PppA, a putative phosphatase. Remarkably, this TagF domain is sufficient to post-translationally repress the T6SS, and this inhibition is independent of TPP. This repression requires interaction with a cytoplasmic protein, Fha, critical for activating T6SS assembly. In P. aeruginosa, PppA and TagF are two distinct proteins that repress T6SS in a TPP-dependent and -independent pathways, respectively. P. aeruginosa TagF interacts with Fha1, suggesting that formation of this complex represents a conserved TagF-mediated regulatory mechanism. Using TagF variants with substitutions of conserved amino acid residues at predicted protein-protein interaction interfaces, we uncovered evidence that the TagF-Fha interaction is critical for TagF-mediated T6SS repression in both bacteria. TagF inhibits T6SS without affecting T6SS protein abundance in A. tumefaciens, but TagF overexpression reduces the protein levels of all analyzed T6SS components in P. aeruginosa. Our results indicate that TagF interacts with Fha, which in turn could impact different stages of T6SS assembly in different bacteria, possibly reflecting an evolutionary divergence in T6SS control.
Date Issued
2018-06-08
Date Acceptance
2018-03-29
Citation
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2018, 293, pp.8829-8842
ISSN
0021-9258
Publisher
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Start Page
8829
End Page
8842
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume
293
Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Author(s). Published under license by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
Sponsor
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29599293
PII: RA117.001618
Grant Number
BB/M02735X/1
BB/N02539/1
MR/N023250/1
MR/K001930/1
Subjects
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Antibacterial activity
Post-translational regulation
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Type VI secretion system
bacterial genetics
gene regulation
protein phosphorylation
protein secretion
protein-protein interaction
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2018-03-29