Study of a putative effector protein associated with the Type VI Secretion System of Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri

• Grant number: 22/11998-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2023
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Cristina Elisa Alvarez Martinez
• Grantee: José Felipe Teixeira da Silva Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/05826-9 - Investigation of the translocation of a putative T6SS effector from Xanthomonas citri to Dictyostelium discoideum cells by microscopy, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Bacteria are ubiquitous organisms that have a vast repertoire of strategies to survive and respond to environmentalchanges. The Proteobacteria Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri is the causative agent of citrus canker, a disease that resultsfrom colonization of Citrus plant tissue and affects all economically important cultivars. Secretion Systems are proteincomplexes that cross the bacterial envelope and export effectors directly to target cells or to the external environment,playing an important role in several aspects of bacterial adaptation to the environment, such as virulence and resistance tocompetitors and predators. The Type 6 Secretion System (TSS6) of X. citri has an anti-eukaryotic function, acting on theresistance to predation by the environmental amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. This project aims to characterize thefunction of one of the genes that encode a putative effector secreted by the TSS6 of X. citri that has been shown to exerttoxic effects in eukaryotic cells. For that, the study proposes to investigate recruitment of the putative effector by TSS6components and understand how the activity of this potential effector affects the homeostasis of eukaryotic cells, usingthe yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism. The results obtained will contribute to the understanding of themechanisms used by X. citri to resistance against environmental amoebas and may reveal new bacterial proteins witheffector function and their mechanisms of action.