%0 Journal Article %A Michel, Gérard %A Bleves, Sophie %A Ball, Geneviève %A Lazdunski, Andrée %A Filloux, Alain %T Mutual stabilization of the XcpZ and XcpY components of the secretory apparatus in Pseudomonas aeruginosa %D 1998 %J Microbiology, %V 144 %N 12 %P 3379-3386 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-144-12-3379 %I Microbiology Society, %X Summary: Protein secretion in Gram-negative bacteria is often dependent on the general secretory pathway (GSP). In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, this system requires at least 12 Xcp (Gsp) proteins, which are proposed to constitute a multiprotein complex localized in the bacterial envelope. Hitherto, little was known about the mutual interactions between Xcp proteins. In this study, mutants affected in the xcpZ gene encoding a bitopic inner-membrane protein were analysed to investigate the role of this protein in the architecture of the secretory machinery. The absence of XcpZ resulted in a decreased amount of XcpY. Reciprocally, XcpZ was not detectable in a xcpY mutant demonstrating a mutual stabilization of these two proteins. These results strongly suggest that XcpZ and XcpY interact within the functional secretory apparatus. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-144-12-3379