About this Research Topic

Background

Numerous human pathogens antagonize/modulate anti-bacterial immunity through the delivery of effector proteins into the host cell. Their combined actions constitute a key element of bacterial pathogenesis, making the elucidation of effector function important for understanding disease-causing processes and for identifying potential intervention points. In addition, numerous examples exist, where the functional characterization of an effector has revealed a completely new enzymatic activity or aspect of the host immune response. This highlights the potential of effectors to serve as probes in the study of human cell biology.

The ever-increasing number of sequenced bacterial pathogens and isolates, together with advances in proteomics, has led to the identification of numerous new putative effectors, thousands in the case Legionella species. However, effector characterization lacks behind, requiring a fresh approach to close this gap. The extensive genetic information available can now be used to analyze the evolution and spread of effectors and shed light on effectors that are integral to pathogenesis as well as those that define the virulence of specific pathovars. In addition, new technologies, including super-resolution microscopy, proteomics, CrispR-Cas9 genome editing, and single-cell RNAseq, provide researchers with an extraordinary tool-box for uncovering effector function in unprecedented molecular detail.

In this Research Topic, we aim to capture these latest and exciting developments in the field of bacterial effector biology. We, therefore, invite submissions to this collection that review or describe new cutting-edge research related to bacterial effectors relevant to human disease. Specifically, we wish to focus on the functional, mechanistic and structural aspects of effectors that are delivered into host cells by type III, type IV, type VI and type VII secretion systems. We also welcome contributions that analyze how the composition and interplay of effector proteins shape tissue tropism, virulence, and pathology of different bacterial isolates. Finally, we strongly encourage the submission of manuscripts that review the merits of existing or describe the new state of the art methods for the in silico prediction of effector function, for identification of effector interactomes, targets, and enzymatic activities, and for imaging effector action at the single-molecule level.

Keywords: Bacteria Effectors, Host Immunity, Human Pathogens, Molecular Mechanisms, Effector Evolution

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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