Dr. Tao Dong from University of Calgary, Canada visited IMCAS and gave a lecture entitled “Bacterial warfare mediated by the type VI protein secretion system” at the invitation of Dr. Bo Yu on October 26, 2015.

During the lecture, Dr. Dong demonstrated the role of type VI protein secretion system (T6SS) for survival in multispecies communities. T6SS is a lethal weapon Gram-negative bacteria use to deliver toxic effectors to neighboring cells through direct contact. He made a new approach to systematically identify T6SS effectors, which are named T6SS effector chaperone (TEC) proteins. The TEC proteins share a highly conserved domain (DUF4123) and are genetically encoded upstream of their cognate effector genes. He then use a number of T6SS active killer species including Vibrio cholerae, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Acinetobacter baylyi, to demonstrate that T6SS effectors confer protection in interspecies interaction by increasing the competitive fitness of T6SS organisms. Thus, “The best defense is a good offence”, a military motto was also applies to the warfare of primitive microbes in complex multispecies environments.

After the lecture, Dr. Tao Dong conducted in-depth exchanges with researchers in the institute, and discussed the possible cooperation in the future research work.

Introduction to Dr. Tao Dong: He obtained his PhD degree in Biology in 2010 at McMaster University, Canada and then conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School, USA. Since 2013, Dr. Tao Dong takes the position of Assistant Professor in Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary. More information about Dr. Dong and his research could be referred from website: http://ucalgary.ca/donglab/.