The HlyB/HlyD-dependent secretion of toxins by gram-negative bacteria

Hemolysin (HlyA) and related toxins are secreted across both the cytoplasmic and outer membranes of Escherichia coli and other pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria in a remarkable process which proceeds without a periplasmic intermediate. It is directed by an uncleaved C-terminal targetting signal and the HlyD and HlyB translocator proteins, the latter of which are members of a transporter superfamily central to import and export of a wide range of substrates by prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Our mutational analyses of the HlyA targetting signal and definition for the first time of stages and intermediates in the HlyB/HlyD-dependent translocation allow a discussion of the hemolysin export process in the wider context of protein translocation.