Genomic mining type III secretion system effectors in Pseudomonas syringae yields new picks for all TTSS prospectors

Trends Microbiol. 2002 Oct;10(10):462-9. doi: 10.1016/s0966-842x(02)02451-4.

Abstract

Many bacterial pathogens of plants and animals use a type III secretion system (TTSS) to deliver virulence effector proteins into host cells. Because effectors are heterogeneous in sequence and function, there has not been a systematic way to identify the genes encoding them in pathogen genomes, and our current inventories are probably incomplete. A pre-closure draft sequence of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000, a pathogen of tomato and Arabidopsis, has recently supported five complementary studies which, collectively, identify 36 TTSS-secreted proteins and many more candidate effectors in this strain. These studies demonstrate the advantages of combining experimental and computational approaches, and they yield new insights into TTSS effectors and virulence regulation in P. syringae, potential effector targeting signals in all TTSS-dependent pathogens, and strategies for finding TTSS effectors in other bacteria that have sequenced genomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / microbiology
  • Bacterial Proteins / classification
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Genes, Bacterial*
  • Genome, Bacterial
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Pseudomonas / genetics
  • Pseudomonas / metabolism*
  • Pseudomonas / pathogenicity
  • Solanum lycopersicum / microbiology
  • Virulence / genetics*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins