• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.57-62
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• 2002

In vivo expression technology (IVET) has been developed to study bacterial gene expression in Salmonella typhimurium during host infection. The expression of selected genes by IVET has been elevated in vivo but not in vitro. The selected genes turned out to be important for bacterial virulence and/or pathogenicity. IVET depends on a synthetic operon with a promoterless transcriptional fusion between a selection marker gene and a reporter gene. The IVET approach has been successfully adapted in other bacterial pathogens and plant-associated bacteria using different selection markers. Pseudomonas putida suppresses citrus root rot caused by Phytophthora parasitica and enhances citrus seedling growth. The WET strategy was adapted based on a transcriptional fusion, pyrBC'-lacZ, in P. putida to study the bacterial traits important far biocontrol activities. Several genes appeared to be induced on P. parasitica hyphae and were found to be related with metabolism and regulation of gene expression. It is likely that the biocontrol strain took a metabolic advantage from the plant pathogenic fungus and then suppressed citrus root rot effectively. The result was parallel with those from the adaptation of IVET in P. fluorescens, a plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Interestingly, genes encoding components for type III secretion system have been identified as rhizosphere-induced genes in the PGPR strain. The type III secretion system may play a certain role during interaction with its counterpart plants. Application of IVET has been demonstrated in a wide range of bacteria. It is an important strategy to genetically understand complicated bacterial traits in the environment.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.289-296
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• 2020

Type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a contact-dependent secretion system, employed by most gram-negative bacteria for translocating effector proteins to target cells. The present study was conducted to investigate T6SS in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), which causes bacterial blight in rice, and to unveil its functions. Two T6SS clusters were found in the genome of Xoo PXO99^A. The deletion mutants, Δhcp1, Δhcp2, and Δhcp12, targeting the hcp gene in each cluster, and a double-deletion mutant targeting both genes were constructed and tested for growth rate, pathogenicity to rice, and inter-bacterial competition ability. The results indicated that hcp in T6SS-2, but not T6SS-1, was involved in bacterial virulence to rice plants. However, neither T6SS-1 nor T6SS-2 had any effect on the ability to compete with Escherichia coli or other bacterial cells. In conclusion, T6SS gene clusters in Xoo have been characterized, and its role in virulence to rice was confirmed.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.608-617
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• 2020

The type III secretion system (T3SS) is a key virulence determinant in the infection process of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000). Pathogen constructs a type III apparatus to translocate effector proteins into host cells, which have various roles in pathogenesis. 4-Hydroxybenozic acid and vanillic acid were identified from root extract of Sedum middendorffianum to have inhibitory effect on promoter activity of hrpA gene encoding the structural protein of the T3SS apparatus. The phenolic acids at 2.5 mM significantly suppressed the expression of hopP1, hrpA, and hrpL in the hrp/hrc gene cluster without growth retardation of Pst DC3000. Auto-agglutination of Pst DC3000 cells, which is induced by T3SS, was impaired by the treatment of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and vanillic acid. Additionally, 2.5 mM of each two phenolic acids attenuated disease symptoms including chlorosis surrounding bacterial specks on tomato leaves. Our results suggest that 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and vanillic acid are potential anti-virulence agents suppressing T3SS of Pst DC3000 for the control of bacterial diseases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.171-175
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• 2008

Here, we report that Vibrio parahaemolyticus induces a rapid remodeling of macrophage actin and activates RhoB GTPase. Mutational analysis revealed that the effects depend on type III secretion system 1 regulated translocation of a V. parahaemolyticus effector protein, VP1686, into the macrophages. Remodeling of actin is shown to be necessary for increased bacterial uptake followed by initiation of apoptosis in macrophages. This provides evidence for functional association of the VP1686 in triggering an eat me-and-die signal to the host.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.359-363
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• 2007

Because of the importance of the type III protein-secretion system in bacteria-plant interaction, its function in bacterial pathogenesis of plants has been intensively studied. To identity bacterial proteins interacting with Xanthomonas hrp gene products that are involved in pathogenicity, we performed the glutathione-bead binding analysis of Xanthomonas lysates containing GST-tagged Hrp proteins. Analysis of glutathione-bead bound proteins by 1-DE and MALDI-TOF has demonstrated that Avr proteins, RecA, and several components of the type III secretion system interact with HrpB protein. This proteomic approach could provide a powerful tool in finding interaction partners of Hrp proteins whose roles in host-pathogen interaction need further studies.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2022

Pseudomonas amygdali is a hemibiotrophic phytopathogen that causes disease in woody and herbaceous plants. Complete genomes of four P. amygdali pathovars were comparatively analyzed to decipher the impact of genomic diversity on host colonization. The pan-genome indicated that 3,928 core genes are conserved among pathovars, while 504-1,009 are unique to specific pathovars. The unique genome contained many mobile elements and exhibited a functional distribution different from the core genome. Genes involved in O-antigen biosynthesis and antimicrobial peptide resistance were significantly enriched for adaptation to hostile environments. While the type III secretion system was distributed in the core genome, unique genomes revealed a different organization of secretion systems as follows: type I in pv. tabaci, type II in pv. japonicus, type IV in pv. morsprunorum, and type VI in pv. lachrymans. These findings provide genetic insight into the dynamic interactions of the bacteria with plant hosts.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1422-1428
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• 2006

An ABC transporter apparatus of the Gram-negative bacterial type I secretion pathway can be used as a secretory protein expression system in Escherichia coli. Four types of coexpression systems for the Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase gene, tliA, and its cognate ABC transporter gene cluster, tliDEF, were constructed. When the relative expression levels were changed by adding different concentrations of IPTG, the secretion (16.9 U/ml of culture) of TliA in E. coli [pTliDEFA-223+pACYC184] was significantly higher than E. coli [pKK223-3+pTliDEFA-184] secreting the lowest level of TliA (5.2 U/ml of culture). Maximal accumulation of the lipase secreted occurred in the mid-exponential phase, implying that the efficient protein secretion via an ABC transporter was restricted only to actively growing cells. Finally, the secretion level of TliA in E. coli [pTliDEFA-223+pACYC184] was increased to 26.4 U/ml by inducing gene expression at the culture initiation time. These results indicate that a significant increase in the ABC transporter-dependent protein secretion can be achieved by simply controlling the relative expression levels between the ABC transporter and its passenger protein, even in the recombinant E. coli cells.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.282-297
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• 2022

Purpose: To explore differences in the subgingival microbiome according to the presence of periodontitis and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), a metagenomic sequencing analysis of the subgingival microbiome was performed. Methods: Twelve participants were divided into 4 groups based on their health conditions (periodontitis, T2D, T2D complicated with periodontitis, and generally healthy). Subgingival plaque was collected for metagenomic sequencing, and gingival crevicular fluids were collected to analyze the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids. Results: The shifts in the subgingival flora from the healthy to periodontitis states were less prominent in T2D subjects than in subjects without T2D. The pentose and glucuronate interconversion, fructose and mannose metabolism, and galactose metabolism pathways were enriched in the periodontitis state, while the phosphotransferase system, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and peptidoglycan biosynthesis, bacterial secretion system, sulfur metabolism, and glycolysis pathways were enriched in the T2D state. Multiple genes whose expression was upregulated from the red and orange complex bacterial genomes were associated with bacterial biofilm formation and pathogenicity. The concentrations of propionic acid and butyric acid were significantly higher in subjects with periodontitis, with or without T2D, than in healthy subjects. Conclusions: T2D patients are more susceptible to the presence of periodontal pathogens and have a higher risk of developing periodontitis. The pentose and glucuronate interconversion, fructose and mannose metabolism, galactose metabolism, and glycolysis pathways may represent the potential microbial functional association between periodontitis and T2D, and butyric acid may play an important role in the interaction between these 2 diseases. The enrichment of the LPS and peptidoglycan biosynthesis, bacterial secretion system, and sulfur metabolism pathways may cause T2D patients to be more susceptible to periodontitis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.278-286
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• 2022

Live bacterial vector vaccines are one of the most promising vaccine types and have the advantages of low cost, flexibility, and good safety. Meanwhile, protein secretion systems have been reported as useful tools to facilitate the release of heterologous antigen proteins from bacterial vectors. The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system is an important protein export system that transports fully folded proteins in a signal peptide-dependent manner. In this study, we constructed a live vector vaccine using an engineered commensal Escherichia coli strain in which amiA and amiC genes were deleted, resulting in a leaky outer membrane that allows the release of periplasmic proteins to the extracellular environment. The protective antigen proteins SLY, enolase, and Sbp against Streptococcus suis were targeted to the Tat pathway by fusing a Tat signal peptide. Our results showed that by exploiting the Tat pathway and the outer membrane-defective E. coli strain, the antigen proteins were successfully secreted. The strains secreting the antigen proteins were used to vaccinate mice. After S. suis challenge, the vaccinated group showed significantly higher survival and milder clinical symptoms compared with the vector group. Further analysis showed that the mice in the vaccinated group had lower burdens of bacteria load and slighter pathological changes. Our study reports a novel live bacterial vector vaccine that uses the Tat system and provides a new alternative for developing S. suis vaccine.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2018

Type VI secretion system (T6SS) has been discovered in a variety of gram-negative bacteria as a versatile weapon to stimulate the killing of eukaryotic cells or prokaryotic competitors. Type VI secretion effectors (T6SEs) are well known as key virulence factors for important pathogenic bacteria. In many Burkholderia species, T6SS has evolved as the most complicated secretion pathway with distinguished types to translocate diverse T6SEs, suggesting their essential roles in this genus. Here we attempted to detect and characterize T6SSs and potential T6SEs in target genomes of plant-associated and environmental Burkholderia species based on computational analyses. In total, 66 potential functional T6SS clusters were found in 30 target Burkholderia bacterial genomes, of which 33% possess three or four clusters. The core proteins in each cluster were specified and phylogenetic trees of three components (i.e., TssC, TssD, TssL) were constructed to elucidate the relationship among the identified T6SS clusters. Next, we identified 322 potential T6SEs in the target genomes based on homology searches and explored the important domains conserved in effector candidates. In addition, using the screening approach based on the profile hidden Markov model (pHMM) of T6SEs that possess markers for type VI effectors (MIX motif) (MIX T6SEs), 57 revealed proteins that were not included in training datasets were recognized as novel MIX T6SE candidates from the Burkholderia species. This approach could be useful to identify potential T6SEs from other bacterial genomes.