Expanding the molecular weaponry of bacterial species.

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) delivers toxic effectors between Gram-negative bacteria. Most antibacterial T6SS effectors are peptidoglycanases, nucleases, or lipases. In the current work, Tang et al. structurally and functionally characterize a novel family of NAD(P) ⁺ -hydrolyzing effectors (NADases), thus expanding the documented types of T6SS substrates. Bioinformatic identification of NADase family members putatively secreted by the bacteriolytic type VII secretion system (T7SS) of Gram-positive bacteria further points to NADases as a diverse and important class of effectors.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests with the contents of this article. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
(© 2018 Lopez and Feldman.)