The EspN transcription factor is an infection-dependent regulator of the ESX-1 system in M. marinum

Bacterial pathogens use protein secretion systems to translocate virulence factors into the host and to control bacterial gene expression. The ESX-1 (ESAT-6 system 1) secretion system facilitates disruption of the macrophage phagosome during infection, enabling access to the cytoplasm, and regulates widespread gene expression in the mycobacterial cell. The transcription factors contributing to the ESX-1 transcriptional network during mycobacterial infection are not known. We showed that the EspM and WhiB6 transcription factors regulate the ESX-1 transcriptional network in vitro but are dispensable for macrophage infection by Mycobacterium marinum. In this study, we used our understanding of the ESX-1 system to identify EspN, a critical transcription factor that controls expression of the ESX-1 genes during infection, but whose effect is not detectable under standard laboratory growth conditions. Under laboratory conditions, EspN activity is masked by the EspM repressor. In the absence of EspM, we found that EspN is required for ESX-1 function because it activates expression of the whiB6 transcription factor gene, and specific ESX-1 substrate and secretory component genes. Unlike the other transcription factors that regulate ESX-1, EspN is required for M. marinum growth within and cytolysis of macrophages, and for disease burden in a zebrafish larval model of infection. These findings demonstrate that EspN is an infection-dependent regulator of the ESX-1 transcriptional network, which is essential for mycobacterial pathogenesis. Moreover, our findings suggest that ESX-1 expression is controlled by a genetic switch that responds to host specific signals. ImportancePathogenic mycobacteria cause acute and long-term diseases, including human tuberculosis. The ESX-1 system transports proteins that control the host response to infection and promotes bacterial survival. Although ESX-1 transports proteins, it also controls gene expression in the bacteria. In this study, we identify an undescribed transcription factor that controls the expression of ESX-1 genes, and is required for both macrophage and animal infection. However, this transcription factor is not the primary regulator of ESX-1 genes under standard laboratory conditions. These findings identify a critical transcription factor that controls expression of a major virulence pathway during infection, but whose effect is not detectable with standard laboratory strains and growth conditions.