Bacteria turn on virulence by sensing host glutathione

What is it about?

B. pseudomallei type VI secretion system, which is activated when bacteria are within the host cytosol, is critical for virulence. However, the activating signal is unknown. Wong et al. show that monomer-to-dimer conversion of a bacterial membrane histidine kinase by cytosolic host glutathione activates type VI secretion.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

First time to show that glutathione from the host acts as a "GPS signal" for bacteria. Bacteria exploits host glutathione that is present abundantly in the host's cytosol to "know" that they have escaped from the phagosome into the vacuole, and it is time to turn on its virulence genes for intercellular spreading. This discovery of a novel signal sensing mechanism by a bacterial two component sensor regulatory system for the regulation of bacterial virulence at a precise moment during its life cycle.