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Conjugative Mating Assays for Sequence-specific Analysis of Transfer Proteins Involved in Bacterial Conjugation

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Systematic functional analysis of the Com pilus in Streptococcus sanguinis: a minimalistic type 4 filament dedicated

Jeremy Mom¹, Iman Chouikha¹, Odile Valette¹

¹Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, Aix-Marseille Université-CNRS (UMR 7283), Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.

|December 14, 2023

Abstract

Importance:

Type 4 filaments (T4F) are nanomachines ubiquitous in prokaryotes, centered on filamentous polymers of type 4 pilins. T4F are exceptionally versatile and widespread virulence factors in bacterial pathogens. The mechanisms of filament assembly and the many functions they facilitate remain poorly understood because of the complexity of T4F machineries. This hinders the development of anti-T4F drugs. The significance of our research lies in characterizing the simplest known T4F-the Com pilus that mediates DNA uptake in competent monoderm bacteria-and showing that four protein components universally conserved in T4F are sufficient for filament assembly. The Com pilus becomes a model for elucidating the mechanisms of T4F assembly.

Keywords:

genetic competence pilus assembly type 4 filaments type 4 pili

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