Identification of YsaP, the pilotin of the Yersinia enterocolitica Ysa type III secretion system

Abstract

Secretins are multimeric outer membrane pore-forming proteins found in complex export systems in Gram-negative bacteria. All type III secretion systems (T3SSs) have a secretin, and one of these is the YsaC secretin of the chromosomally encoded Ysa T3SS of Yersinia enterocolitica. In some cases, pilotin proteins, which are outer membrane lipoproteins, are required for their cognate secretins to multimerize and/or localize to the outer membrane. However, if secretin multimers mislocalize to the inner membrane, this can trigger the protective phage shock protein (Psp) stress response. During a screen for mutations that suppress YsaC toxicity to a psp null strain, we isolated several independent mutations predicted to increase expression of the YE3559 gene within the Ysa pathogenicity island. YE3559, which we have named ysaP, is predicted to encode a small outer membrane lipoprotein, and this location was confirmed by membrane fractionation. Elevated ysaP expression increased the steady-state level of YsaC but made it less toxic to a psp null strain, and it also decreased YsaC-dependent induction of psp gene expression. Subsequent experiments showed that YsaP was not required for YsaC multimerization but was required for the multimers to localize to the outer membrane. Consistent with this, a ysaP null mutation compromised protein export by the Ysa T3SS. All these observations suggest that YsaP is the pilotin for the YsaC secretin. This is only the second pilotin to be characterized for Yersinia and one of only a small number of pilotins described for all bacteria.