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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

A Visual Assay to Monitor T6SS-mediated Bacterial Competition

A Visual Assay to Monitor T6SS-mediated Bacterial Competition

Published on: March 20, 2013

Type 6 secretion dynamics within and between bacterial cells.

M Basler¹, J J Mekalanos

¹Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|July 7, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) uses a contractile sheath for cell attacks. Cytoplasmic ClpV protein rapidly disassembles the T6SS sheath, enabling visualization of bacterial dueling and protein translocation events.

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Area of Science:

Microbiology
Bacterial cell biology
Protein secretion systems

Background:

The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a protein complex mediating inter-bacterial and bacterial-host cell interactions.
T6SS functions as a potent virulence factor, delivering effector proteins via a contractile phage tail-like structure.
Understanding T6SS dynamics and regulation is crucial for deciphering bacterial pathogenesis.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of cytoplasmic factors in T6SS sheath dynamics within living bacterial cells.
To visualize and characterize the disassembly process of the T6SS sheath.
To explore the potential of ClpV as a marker for T6SS activity and bacterial interactions.

Main Methods:

Live-cell imaging of bacterial populations.
Fluorescence microscopy to track ClpV localization and T6SS sheath dynamics.
Characterization of ClpV's interaction with the contracted T6SS sheath structure.

Main Results:

The cytoplasmic ATPase ClpV specifically recognizes and rapidly disassembles the contracted T6SS sheath.
ClpV imaging provides a spatio-temporal record of T6SS-mediated cell-cell interactions, termed 'T6SS dueling'.
These observations suggest repeated T6SS protein translocation events occur during bacterial dueling.

Conclusions:

ClpV plays a critical role in T6SS sheath disassembly, regulating the secretion system's lifecycle.
ClpV imaging offers a novel method to study T6SS activity and bacterial competition in real-time.
This research enhances our understanding of T6SS function in bacterial virulence and inter-bacterial dynamics.