A Novel Gene Regulates Vesiculogenesis and Immunomodulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

After co-evolving with humans, its only major host, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) restrains immune responses well enough to escape eradication, yet elicits enough immunopathology to ensure its transmission. Here, we provide evidence that this balance is regulated in part by a previously uncharacterized, cytosolic, membrane-associated protein with a novel structural fold, encoded by the Mtb gene rv0431. The protein acts by regulating the quantity and quality of Mtb-derived membrane vesicles bearing TLR2 ligands, including the lipoproteins LpqH and SodC. We propose that rv0431 be named virR (vesiculogenesis and immune response regulator). To our knowledge, VirR is the first bacterial protein identified to regulate vesiculogenesis. Transcriptome sequencing of mouse macrophages uninfected, infected with WT Mtb, or infected with rv0431 mutant Mtb.