Vibrio cholerae type 6 secretion system effector trafficking in target bacterial cells

T6SS is capable of delivering effectors that could attack substrates found either in the periplasm or cytosol of target bacteria. Additionally, we found that effectors VgrG3 and TseL, despite lacking a classical Sec or TAT secretion signal, were able to reach the periplasm when expressed in the bacterial cytosol. This effector trafficking likely represents an evolutionary strategy for T6SS effectors to reach their intended substrates regardless of which subcellular compartment in the target cell they happen to be delivered to by the T6SS apparatus.