Arkadiy Garber (@ironark.bsky.social)

Great opening: "Once considered a bag of enzymes, bacterial cells do not simply hold their proteins in the bag but have evolved multiple protein secretion systems to release proteins outside for crucial functions" Review on the T6SS structure and effectors. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

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Not just passengers: effectors contribute to the assembly of the type VI secretion system as structural building blocks | Journal of Bacteriology Once considered a bag of enzymes, bacterial cells do not simply hold their proteins in the bag but have evolved multiple protein secretion systems to release proteins outside for crucial functions. These secretion systems are often required for mediating intra- and inter-cellular interactions in diverse polymicrobial environments, virulence, and survival during pathogen-host interactions (1–3). Therefore, bacterial secretion systems have received tremendous attention and broad interest despite their non-essential role in survival in pure cultures. Among the known systems, most secrete proteins across the double membrane of Gram-negative bacteria through one- or two-step mechanisms (4). One-step systems (T1SS, T3SS, T4SS, T6SS, and T7SS) form trans-membrane tunnels that translocate substrates directly from the cytoplasm to the extracellular environment (5–9). Two-step systems (T2SS and T5SS) use Sec or Tat translocation systems to move effectors across the inner membrane to the periplasm before secretion across the outer membrane (10, 11). These systems secrete diverse effectors involved in stress mitigation, nutrient acquisition, host-microbe interactions, and modulation of polymicrobial communities (12–16). https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jb.00455-24