Publications by authors named "Shir Mass"
Quorum sensing regulates virulence factors in the coral pathogen .
Appl Environ Microbiol
February 2025
The bacterial pathogen causes disease in coral species worldwide. The mechanisms of coral colonization, coral microbiome interactions, and virulence factor production are understudied. In other model species, virulence factors like biofilm formation, toxin secretion, and protease production are controlled through a density-dependent communication system called quorum sensing (QS).
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- Vibrio coralliilyticus is a harmful pathogen affecting coral and shellfish, leading to significant ecological and economic harm globally.
- The study focused on the type VI secretion system (T6SS) in V. coralliilyticus, revealing two types that become active at higher temperatures, with T6SS1 competing against other bacteria and T6SS2 directly harming host organisms.
- Researchers identified at least 9 new anti-eukaryotic toxins in T6SS2 that contribute to virulence, suggesting that T6SS2 targets hosts directly while T6SS1 aids survival by eliminating competing bacteria.
The marine bacterium is a major cause of seafood-borne gastroenteritis in humans and of acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease in shrimp. Bile acids, produced by the host and modified into secondary bile acids by commensal bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, induce the virulence factors leading to disease in humans and shrimp. Here, we show that secondary bile acids also activate this pathogen's type VI secretion system 1, a toxin delivery apparatus mediating interbacterial competition.
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