title: The unusual extended signal peptide region of the type V secretion system is phylogenetically restricted.
abstract: The plasmid encoded toxin, Pet, is a prototypical member of the serine protease autotransporters of the Enterobacteriaceae. In addition to the passenger and beta-domains typical of autotransporters, in silico predictions indicate that Pet possesses an unusually long N-terminal signal sequence. The signal sequence can be divided into five regions termed N1 (charged), H1 (hydrophobic), N2, H2 and C (cleavage site) domains. The N1 and H1 regions, which we have termed the extended signal peptide region, demonstrate remarkable conservation. In contrast, the N2, H2 and C regions demonstrate significant variability and are reminiscent of typical Sec-dependent signal sequences. Despite several investigations, the function of the extended signal peptide region remains obscure and surprisingly it has not been proven that the extended signal peptide region is actually synthesized as part of the signal sequence. Here, we demonstrate that the extended signal peptide region is present only in Gram-negative bacterial proteins originating from the classes Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria, and more particularly only in proteins secreted via the Type V secretion pathway: autotransporters, TpsA exoproteins of the two-partner system and trimeric autotransporters. In vitro approaches demonstrate that the DNA region encoding the extended signal peptide region is transcribed and translated.
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunity and Infection, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Mickaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desvaux
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Nina A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Filenko
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scott-Tucker
authors.forename: Sue M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D020563:Gammaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000502:physiology*; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals