title: Type III secretion system-associated pilus of Pseudomonas syringae as an epitope display tool.
abstract: Type III secretion system-associated pili found in several plant pathogenic bacteria are required for injection of virulence proteins from bacteria into the plant cells. The possibility to use the type III secretion pilus of Pseudomonas syringae as an epitope display tool was studied. The advantage of the type III secretion pilus, compared with conventional fimbrial epitope display tools, is that the pilin subunits of the type III secretion pilus can auto-assemble into intact pili in vitro. Various peptides were inserted into the type III secretion pilin subunit, and secretion, assembly and surface properties of the modified pili were monitored. It was concluded that the outwards-projecting N-terminal region of the pilin can bear even 43 amino acids insertion. The three-dimensional structure of the epitope, however, can restrict the use of the pilus as an epitope display tool: a beta-hairpin structure was poorly tolerated.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Microbiology, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Chun-Mei
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Elina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hienonen
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haapalainen
authors.forename: Vesa P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Kontinen
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romantschuk
authors.forename: Suvi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taira
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D044224:Pseudomonas syringae / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000648:ultrastructure; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000939:Epitopes; D037521:Virulence Factors