The structure of the N-terminal-truncated Type IVb structural pilin (t-PilS) from Salmonella typhi was determined by NMR. Although topologically similar to the recently determined x-ray structure of pilin from Vibrio cholerae toxin-coregulated pilus, the only Type IVb pilin with known structure, t-PilS contains many distinct structural features. The protein contains an extra pair of beta-strand...

We have studied the evolution of a type IV secretion system (T4SS), in Bartonella, which is thought to have changed function from conjugation to erythrocyte adherence following a recent horizontal gene transfer event. The system, called Trw, is unique among T4SSs in that genes encoding both exo- and intracellular components are located within the same duplicated fragment. This provides an oppor...

A complete three-dimensional model (RCSB001169; PDB code 1qqz ) for the Vibrio cholerae toxin coregulated pilus protein (TcpA), including residues 1-197, is presented. We have used the crystal structure of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae pilin (PilE), available biochemical data about TcpA, variations in the primary sequences of TcpA among various Vibrio cholerae strains and secondary structure predic...

The bacterial type IV pilus (T4P) is a versatile molecular machine with a broad range of functions. Recent advances revealed that the molecular components and the biophysical properties of the machine are well conserved among phylogenetically distant bacterial species. However, its functions are diverse, and include adhesion, motility, and horizontal gene transfer. This review focusses on the r...

Bacterial biofilms can generate micro-heterogeneity in terms of surface structures. However, little is known about the associated changes in the physics of cell-cell interaction and its impact on the architecture of biofilms. In this study, we used the type IV pilus of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to test whether variation of surface structures induces cell-sorting. We show that the rupture forces bet...

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus are facultatively predatory bacteria that grow within gram-negative prey, using pili to invade their periplasmic niche. They also grow prey-independently on organic nutrients after undergoing a reversible switch. The nature of the growth switching mechanism has been elusive, but several independent reports suggested mutations in the hit (host-interaction) locus on the...

can be posttranslationally modified by phosphoethanolamine (PE), phosphocholine (PC), phosphoglycerol (PG), and by O-linked glycosylation. Several serine residues within the N. meningitidis pilin, as well as pilin from the closely related N. gonorrhoeae, have been shown to undergo modification. Serine 63 is modified by O-linked glycosylation, serine 68 is modified by either PE or PC, and PG has...

Pseudomonas stutzeri lives in terrestrial and aquatic habitats and is capable of natural genetic transformation. After transposon mutagenesis, transformation-deficient mutants were isolated from a P. stutzeri JM300 strain. In one of them a gene which coded for a protein with 75% amino acid sequence identity to PilC of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an accessory protein for type IV pilus biogenesis, wa...

Group B streptococcus (GBS) pili may enhance colonization and infection by mediating bacterial adhesion to host cells, invasion across endothelial and epithelial barriers, and resistance to bacterial ingestion and killing by host phagocytes. However, it remains unclear how pilus expression is regulated and how modulation of pilus production affects GBS interactions with the human host. We inves...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) that were isolated from neonatal pigs and that did not react in preliminary tests for pilus antigen K88 were subjected to additional tests for K88 and for pilus antigens K99 and 987P. Four such isolates produced K88, 9 isolates produced K99, 55 isolates produced 987P, and the remaining 43 isolates produced none of the three pilus antigens (3P(-)). Immunof...