A bacterial secretosome for regulated envelope biogenesis and quality control

As the first line of defence against antibiotics, the Gram-negative bacterial envelope and its biogenesis are of considerable interest to the microbiological and biomedical communities. All bacterial proteins are synthesised in the cytosol, so inner- and outer-membrane proteins, and periplasmic residents have to be transported to their final destinations via specialised protein machinery. The Sec translocon, a ubiquitous integral inner-membrane (IM) complex, is key to this process as the major gateway for protein transit from the cytosol to the cell envelope; this can be achieved during their translation, or afterwards. Proteins need to be directed to the inner-membrane (usually co-translational), otherwise SecA utilises ATP and the proton-motive-force (PMF) to drive proteins across the membrane post-translationally. These proteins are then picked up by chaperones for folding in the periplasm or delivered to the {beta}-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) for incorporation into the outer-membrane. The core heterotrimeric SecYEG-complex forms the hub for an extensive network of interactions that regulate protein delivery and quality control. Here, we conduct a biochemical exploration of this secretosome - a very large, versatile and inter-changeable assembly with the Sec-translocon at its core; featuring interactions that facilitate secretion (SecDF), inner- and outer-membrane protein insertion (respectively, YidC and BAM), protein folding and quality control (e.g. PpiD, YfgM and FtsH). We propose the dynamic interplay amongst these and other factors act to ensure efficient whole envelope biogenesis, regulated to accommodate the requirements of cell elongation and division. This organisation would be essential for cell wall biogenesis and remodelling and thus its perturbation would be a good strategy for the development of anti-microbials.