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Hrp-controlled interkingdom protein transport: learning from flagellar assembly?
1Michigan State University Dept of Energy, East Lansing 48824, USA. hes@pilot.msu.edu
Trends in Microbiology
|February 3, 1998
Summary
Plant pathogenic bacteria use a type III secretion system (Hrp) to deliver effector proteins into host cells. This system shares similarities with the flagellum assembly apparatus, suggesting a common evolutionary origin.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Plant Pathology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Plant pathogenic bacteria employ specialized secretion systems to interact with host plants.
- The Hrp (hypersensitive reaction and pathogenicity) secretion system is crucial for virulence and avirulence protein delivery.
- Understanding these systems is key to controlling plant diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the molecular mechanisms of the Hrp type III secretion system.
- To explore potential similarities between the Hrp system and other bacterial secretion/assembly apparatuses.
- To elucidate the evolutionary relationships of bacterial secretion systems.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of protein sequences and structures.
- Bioinformatic analysis of gene clusters.
- Functional studies of secretion system components (implied).
Main Results:
- Evidence suggests structural and functional similarities between the Hrp secretion system and the flagellum assembly apparatus.
- These findings point towards a shared evolutionary pathway for these complex molecular machines.
Conclusions:
- The Hrp type III secretion system in plant pathogens may have evolved from or shares common ancestry with the flagellum assembly machinery.
- This conserved mechanism highlights the adaptability of bacterial secretion systems in diverse biological contexts.