Antibacterial potential of complex cystic fibrosis isolates.

Unlabelled: Over 160,000 people worldwide suffer from cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic condition that causes mucus to accumulate in internal organs. Lung decline is a significant health burden for people with CF (pwCF), and chronic bacterial pulmonary infections are a major cause of death. complex (Smc) is an emerging, multidrug-resistant CF pathogen that can cause pulmonary exacerbations and result in higher mortality.

The type VI secretion system of the emerging pathogen complex has antibacterial properties.

Infections with the opportunistic pathogen complex can be fatal for immunocompromised patients. The mechanisms used by the bacterium to compete against other prokaryotes are not well understood. We found that the type VI secretion system (T6SS) allows complex to eliminate other bacteria and contributes to the competitive fitness against a co-infecting isolate.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Antivirulence Strategies: Targeting the Type III Secretion System.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa type III secretion system (T3SS) is a complex molecular machine that delivers toxic proteins from the bacterial cytoplasm directly into host cells. This apparatus spans the inner and outer membrane and employs a needle-like structure that penetrates through the eucaryotic cell membrane into the host cell cytosol. The expression of the P.

Antibacterial contact-dependent proteins secreted by Gram-negative cystic fibrosis respiratory pathogens.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects almost 100 000 people worldwide. CF patients suffer from chronic bacterial airway infections that are often polymicrobial and are the leading cause of mortality. Interactions between pathogens modulate expression of genes responsible for virulence and antibiotic resistance.

A New Contact Killing Toxin Permeabilizes Cells and Belongs to a Broadly Distributed Protein Family.

Vibrio cholerae is an aquatic Gram-negative bacterium that causes severe diarrheal cholera disease when ingested by humans. To eliminate competitor cells in both the external environment and inside hosts, V. cholerae uses the type VI secretion system (T6SS).

Glucose confers protection to Escherichia coli against contact killing by Vibrio cholerae.

Evolutionary arms races are broadly prevalent among organisms including bacteria, which have evolved defensive strategies against various attackers. A common microbial aggression mechanism is the type VI secretion system (T6SS), a contact-dependent bacterial weapon used to deliver toxic effector proteins into adjacent target cells. Sibling cells constitutively express immunity proteins that neutralize effectors.

Accumulation of dead cells from contact killing facilitates coexistence in bacterial biofilms.

Bacterial communities are governed by a wide variety of social interactions, some of which are antagonistic with potential significance for bacterial warfare. Several antagonistic mechanisms, such as killing via the type VI secretion system (T6SS), require killer cells to directly contact target cells. The T6SS is hypothesized to be a highly potent weapon, capable of facilitating the invasion and defence of bacterial populations.

Analysis of Vibrio cholerae genomes identifies new type VI secretion system gene clusters.

Background: Like many bacteria, Vibrio cholerae deploys a harpoon-like type VI secretion system (T6SS) to compete against other microbes in environmental and host settings. The T6SS punctures adjacent cells and delivers toxic effector proteins that are harmless to bacteria carrying cognate immunity factors. Only four effector/immunity pairs encoded on one large and three auxiliary gene clusters have been characterized from largely clonal, patient-derived strains of V.