Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BIOCONT6SS (Inter-bacterial competition mediated by the type VI secretion system (T6SS): promising role in the biocontrol properties of Pseudomonas putida)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2016-09-01 do 2018-08-31
Pseudomonas putida is an important biocontrol agent, in this project, we aim to analyse the type VI secretion systems (T6SSs) to determine whether T6SSs play a role in the biocontrol properties of this strain. T6SSs are bacterial nanomachines used to inject toxic effectors into target cells. This secretion system plays an important role in inter-bacterial competition and thus it is susceptible to be an important mechanism of biocontrol used for beneficial bacteria to eradicate plant pathogens.
A preliminary in silico analysis revealed the existence of three T6SSs in P. putida KT2440 (K1, K2 and K3). The project was designed to advance in the study of P. putida T6SSs by addressing the following main issues: 1) performing a phylogenetic study of the T6SSs in P. putida strains; 2) broadening and completing the in silico study; 3) identifying P. putida competitors targeted by the system; 4) characterising the identified effectors and immunity proteins and 5) determine the role of Pseudomonas-T6SS in biocontrol.