The Photorhabdus asymbiotica virulence cassettes deliver protein effectors directly into target eukaryotic cells

By Isabella Vlisidou, Alexia Hapeshi, J. Healey, Katie Smart, Guowei Yang, N. Waterfield. 2019

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Photorhabdus is a highly effective insect pathogen and symbiont of insecticidal nematodes. To exert its potent insecticidal effects, it elaborates a myriad of toxins and small molecule effectors. Among these, the Photorhabdus Virulence Cassettes (PVCs) represent an elegant self-contained delivery mechanism for diverse protein toxins. Importantly, these self-contained nanosyringes overcome host cell membrane barriers, and act independently, at a distance from the bacteria itself. In this study, we demonstrate that Pnf, a PVC needle complex associated toxin, is a Rho-GTPase, which acts via deamidation and transglutamination to disrupt the cytoskeleton. TEM and Western blots have shown a physical association between Pnf and its cognate PVC delivery mechanism. We demonstrate that for Pnf to exert its effect, translocation across the cell membrane is absolutely essential.

Subfields: Insect Science, Molecular Biology

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• The extracellular contractile injection system is enriched in environmental microbes and associates with numerous toxins (2020, background): “3a, Supplementary Data 10), (4) especially genes containing the DUF4157 marker (plus genes next to DUF4157 containing genes).”