Nature Communications (Apr 2019)

Bidirectional contraction of a type six secretion system

  • Piotr Szwedziak,
  • Martin Pilhofer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09603-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Bacteria use contractile injection systems, such as type VI secretion systems (T6SS), to secrete proteins that mediate cell-cell interactions. Here, Szwedziak & Pilhofer show that both ends of a T6SS can attach to opposite sides of the cell, enabling the structure to contract in two opposite directions.