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Evolutionary Conservation, Variability, and Adaptation of Type III Secretion Systems

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Abstract

Type III secretion (T3S) systems are complex bacterial structures used by many pathogens to inject proteins directly into the cytosol of the host cell. These secretion machines evolved from the bacterial flagella and they have been grouped into families by phylogenetic analysis. The T3S system is composed of more than 20 proteins grouped into five complexes: the cytosolic platform, the export apparatus, the basal body, the needle, and the translocon complex. While the proteins located inside the bacterium are conserved, those exposed to the external media present high variability among families. This suggests that the T3S systems have adapted to interact with different cells or tissues in the host, and/or have been subjected to the evolutionary pressure of the host immune defenses. Such adaptation led to changes in the sequence of the T3S needle tip and translocon suggesting differences in the mechanism of assembly and structure of this complex.

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Fig. 1

adapted from data of the Ysc family (Broz et al. 2007). PM host plasma membrane, OM outer membrane, IM inner membrane

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgments

We thank former and current members of the Heuck lab for their contributions and insightful discussions and Dr. Eugenia M. Clerico for critically reading of the manuscript and design of the figures. We also thank the UMass College of Natural Sciences Dean’s Bridge and Seed Fund support and the UMass Faculty Research Grant/Healey Endowment Grant (to AH).

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health Grant No. R41 AI149922.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Alejandro P. Heuck & Marco A. Brovedan

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AH wrote the main manuscript, prepared Figures 3 and 4, performed the amino acid identity calculations, performed the multisequence alignments, and did the conservation calculations. MB retrieved protein sequences from GenBank, prepared Caption Abstract and Table S2. AH and MB analyzed the data and prepared the rest of the figures and tables. Both authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alejandro P. Heuck.

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Heuck, A.P., Brovedan, M.A. Evolutionary Conservation, Variability, and Adaptation of Type III Secretion Systems. J Membrane Biol 255, 599–612 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-022-00247-9

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