Functional Diversification of Phytopathogenic Type III Secreted Effector Proteins
Amy Huei-Yi Lee, Heath O'Brien, Timothy Lo, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux
from: Bacteria-Plant Interactions: Advanced Research and Future Trends (Edited by: Jesús Murillo, Boris A. Vinatzer, Robert W. Jackson and Dawn L. Arnold). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2015) Pages: 1-30.
Abstract
Bacterial phytopathogens and mutualistic symbionts utilize the type III secretion system (T3SS) to deliver type III secreted effector (T3SE) proteins into host cells in order to manipulate host immunity or cellular processes and integrity, with the ultimate aim of promoting bacterial growth and transmission. A large amount of experimental work has gone into the identification of T3SEs. However, a majority have no known host targets or characterized modes of action. The recent explosion in genome sequences of bacterial phytopathogens has led to the rapid identification of a large number of divergent homologs of known T3SEs, but the majority of functional work has been done on single representatives of a given T3SE family. In cases where multiple homologs have been characterized, they often exhibit striking divergence in targets, cofactor requirements, and virulence and immune recognition functions. Comparative genomics and functional analysis of T3SE homologs across bacterial pathogens of both plants and animals will enhance our understanding of host specificity and pathogenesis read more ...
