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Identification and type III‐dependent secretion of the Yersinia pestis insecticidal‐like proteins
Author(s) -
Gendlina Inessa,
Held Kiara G.,
Schesser Bartra Sara,
Gallis Byron M.,
Doneanu Catalin E.,
Goodlett David R.,
Plano Gregory V.,
Collins Carleen M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05729.x
Subject(s) - yersinia pestis , biology , virulence , microbiology and biotechnology , secretion , gene , type vi secretion system , pathogenicity island , fusion protein , genetics , recombinant dna , biochemistry
Summary Plague, or the Black Death, is a zoonotic disease that is spread from mammal to mammal by fleas. This mode of transmission demands that the causative agent of this disease, Yersinia pestis , is able to survive and multiply in both mammals and insects. In recent years the complete genome sequence of a number of Y. pestis strains have been determined. This sequence information indicates that Y. pestis contains a cluster of genes with homology to insecticidal toxin encoding genes of the insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens . Here we demonstrate that Y. pestis KIM strains produced the encoded proteins. Production of the locus‐encoded proteins was dependent on a gene ( yitR ) encoding a member of the LysR family of transcriptional activators. Evidence suggests the proteins are type III secretion substrates. N terminal amino acids (100 to 367) of each protein fused to an epitope tag were secreted by the virulence plasmid type III secretion type. A fusion protein comprised of the N‐terminus of YipB and the enzymatic active component of Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase (Cya) was translocated into both mammalian and insect cells. In conclusion, a new class of Y. pestis type III secreted and translocated proteins has been identified. We hypothesize that these proteins function to promote transmission of and infection by Y. pestis .