ArticlePLoS genetics2012
The non-flagellar type III secretion system evolved from the bacterial flagellum and diversified into host-cell adapted systems.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 163 papers.
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163 citing papers in PubMed, 313 citations in OpenAlex.
- From gut colonization to recurrence:Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Type III secretion system diversity in the Pseudomonas fluorescens species complex.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Identification of protein secretion systems and type III effectors in wood-associated bacteria of the genusMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- The last bacterial common ancestor encoded a complex flagellum.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Review
- Adaptation to a host-associated lifestyle is associated with convergent loss of flagella-related genes in Pseudomonadota.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Article
- Structural and functional insights into Pseudomonas aeruginosa's secretion systems 1-6: regulation, role in microbial keratitis and drug targets.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026Review
- Article
- Continuous exchange of an inner-membrane ring component is required for assembly and function of the type III secretion system.Nature communications · 2025Article
- T6SS4 is heterogeneously expressed in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and is a target for transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Strategies and mechanisms of contact-dependent predation in bacteria.Current opinion in microbiology · 2025Review
- Characterization of toxin systems of Paenibacillus strains isolated from honeybees.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- FliO is an evolutionarily conserved yet diversified core component of the bacterial flagellar type III secretion system.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Tad pili with adaptable tips mediate contact-dependent killing during bacterial predation.Nature communications · 2025Article
- On the role of the sorting platform in hierarchical type III secretion regulation in enteropathogenicJournal of bacteriology · 2025Article
- Genomic Insight into Zoonotic and EnvironmentalMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- Aurodox inhibits type III secretion in multiple Gram-negative pathogens.Open biology · 2024Article
- Pathogenic diversification of the gut commensalInfection and immunity · 2024Article
- Surveillance of travel-associated isolates elucidates the diversity of non-pandemicMicrobial genomics · 2024Article
103 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Type 3 secretion systems (T3SSs) are essential components of two complex bacterial machineries: the flagellum, which drives cell motility, and the non-flagellar T3SS (NF-T3SS), which delivers effectors into eukaryotic cells. Yet the origin, specialization, and diversification of these machineries remained unclear. We developed computational tools to identify homologous components of the two systems and to discriminate between them. Our analysis of >1,000 genomes identified 921 T3SSs, including 222 NF-T3SSs. Phylogenomic and comparative analyses of these systems argue that the NF-T3SS arose from an exaptation of the flagellum, i.e. the recruitment of part of the flagellum structure for the evolution of the new protein delivery function. This reconstructed chronology of the exaptation process proceeded in at least two steps. An intermediate ancestral form of NF-T3SS, whose descendants still exist in Myxococcales, lacked elements that are essential for motility and included a subset of NF-T3SS features. We argue that this ancestral version was involved in protein translocation. A second major step in the evolution of NF-T3SSs occurred via recruitment of secretins to the NF-T3SS, an event that occurred at least three times from different systems. In rhizobiales, a partial homologous gene replacement of the secretin resulted in two genes of complementary function. Acquisition of a secretin was followed by the rapid adaptation of the resulting NF-T3SSs to multiple, distinct eukaryotic cell envelopes where they became key in parasitic and mutualistic associations between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Our work elucidates major steps of the evolutionary scenario leading to extant NF-T3SSs. It demonstrates how molecular evolution can convert one complex molecular machine into a second, equally complex machine by successive deletions, innovations, and recruitment from other molecular systems.
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