Protein secretion in mycobacteria

Special focus is given on protein secretion and processing. Mycobacteria belong to the group of GC-rich, gram-positive bacteria. Compared to other gram-positive bacteria, the mycobacterial cell envelope is rather complex and in several aspects resembles the cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria. Protein secretion in bacteria is conferred by specialized transport machineries. A multitude of protein secretion systems have been identified in gram-negative bacteria. In contrast, the number of and the knowledge about protein secretion mechanisms in mycobacteria is limited. To investigate protein secretion pathways in mycobacteria, genetic mutants are generated by allelic replacement techniques and by random transposon mutagenesis (Mol. Microbiol. 2004, 52:1543, Microbiol. 2007, 153:652, J. Biol. Chem. 2009, 52:1543, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2010, 391:679, J. Bacteriol. 2012, 194:3938). Reporter assays are applied with a view to dissect protein secretion at the molecular level and to identify putative novel secretion pathways.

• Project: Protein secretion in mycobacteria (P. Sander)