Simon G Caulton, Carey Lambert, Jess Tyson, Paul Radford, Asmaa Al-Bayati, Samuel Greenwood, Emma J Banks, Callum Clark, Rob Till, Elisabete Pires, R Elizabeth Sockett, Andrew L Lovering
Predatory bacteria, like the model endoperiplasmic bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, show several adaptations relevant to their requirements for locating, entering and killing other bacteria. The mechanisms underlying prey recognition and handling remain obscure. Here we use complementary genetic, microscopic and structural methods to address this deficit. During invasion, the B. bacteriovorus protein CpoB concentrates into a vesicular compartment that is deposited into the prey periplasm. Proteomic and structural analyses of vesicle contents reveal several fibre-like proteins, which we name the mosaic adhesive trimer (MAT) superfamily, and show localization on the predator surface before prey encounter...
January 2024: Nature Microbiology