Photobacterium damselaesubsp.damselaeis a marine bacterium that causes septicemia in marine animals and in humans. Previously, we had determined a major role of pPHDD1 plasmid-encoded Dly (damselysin) and HlyA (HlyApl) and the chromosome-encoded HlyA (HlyAch) hemolysins in virulence. However, the mechanisms by which these toxins are secreted remain unknown. In this study, we found that a mini-Tn10transposon mutant in a plasmidless strain showing an impaired hemolytic phenotype contained an insertion inepsL, a component of a type II secretion system (T2SS). Reconstruction of the mutant by allelic exchange confirmed the specific involvement ofepsLin HlyAchsecretion. In addition, mutation ofepsLin a pPHDD1-harboring strain caused an almost complete abolition of hemolytic activity against sheep erythrocytes, indicating thatepsLplays a major role in secretion of the plasmid-encoded HlyApland Dly. This was further demonstrated by analysis of different combinations of hemolysin gene mutants and by strain-strain complementation assays. We also found that mutation of the putative prepilin peptidase genepilDseverely affected hemolysis, which dropped at levels inferior to those ofepsLmutants. Promoter expression analyses suggested that impairment of hemolysin secretion inepsLandpilDmutants might constitute a signal that affects hemolysin and T2SS gene expression at the transcriptional level. In addition, singleepsLandpilDmutations caused a drastic decrease in virulence for mice, demonstrating a major role of T2SS andpilDinP. damselaesubsp.damselaevirulence.
The role of intrinsic disorder and dynamics in the assembly and function of the type II secretion system