The ESAT-6/WXG100 superfamily – and a new Gram-positive secretion system?
Abstract
ESAT-6 is a small secreted protein of unknown function from Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is of fundamental importance in virulence and protective immunity. A PSI-BLAST search has identified distant homologues of ESAT-6 in more tractable bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus anthracis, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium acetobutylicum. The genes for ESAT-6-like proteins often cluster with genes encoding homologues of B. subtilis YukA. I speculate that the ESAT-6-like and YukA-like proteins form a novel Gram-positive secretion system potentially driven by the FtsK/SpoIIIE ATPase domains in the YukA-like proteins. The way is now open to investigate this hypothesis in organisms that are easier to manipulate than pathogenic mycobacteria.
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T7S-like systems are found outside the high GC Gram-positive bacteria, since a number of Firmicutes have WXG100 members.
“T7S-like systems are also found outside the high GC Gram-positive bacteria, since a number of Firmicutes have WXG100 members [35].”
From Systematic Genetic Nomenclature for Type VII Secretion Systems (2009) · cites this paper as [35]
All five ESX systems share common features: small secreted proteins of about 100 amino acids with a conserved Trp-X-Gly (WXG) motif, an FtsK-SpoIIIE ATPase, several transmembrane proteins, and a subtilisin-like mycosin (MycP).
“All five ESX systems share several common features: the presence of small secreted proteins (of about 100 amino acids) with a conserved Trp-X-Gly (WXG) motif (20), an FtsK-SpoIIIE ATPase, several transmembrane proteins, and a subtilisin-like mycosin (MycP) (11,16) (Fig. 1).”
From ESX/Type VII Secretion Systems—An Important Way Out for Mycobacterial Proteins (2019) · cites this paper as [20]
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- Authors
- Pallen, M. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Pallen, Mark J
- ORCID
- Pallen, Mark J
- Venue
- Trends in Microbiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2002-05
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 209-212
- ISSN
- 0966-842X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2049312907
- Cited by
- 361
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 1.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Endocrinology › Escherichia coli research studies
- Keywords
- ESAT-6, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, protein secretion, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus anthracis, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium acetobutylicum, virulence, protective immunity
- MeSH terms
- Antigens, Bacterial, Bacterial Proteins, Base Sequence, Multigene Family, Gram-Positive Bacteria, Models, Genetic, Molecular Sequence Data, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Sequence Alignment, Antigens, Human Platelet, Protein Transport
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