Dual Membrane-Sspanning Anti-Sigma Factors Regulate Vesiculation in Gut Bacteroidota

Bacteroidota are abundant members of the human gut microbiota that shape the enteric landscape by modulating host immunity and degrading dietary- and host-derived glycans. These processes are at least partially mediated by Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs). In this work, we developed a high-throughput screen to identify genes required for OMV biogenesis and its regulation in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt). Our screening led us to the identification of a novel family of Dual Membrane-spanning Anti-sigma factors (Dma), which regulate OMV biogenesis in Bt. We employed molecular and multiomic analyses to demonstrate that deletion of Dma1, the founding member of the Dma family, results in hypervesiculation by modulating the expression of NigD1, which belongs to a family of uncharacterized proteins found throughout Bacteroidota. Dma1 has an unprecedented domain organization: it contains a C-terminal {beta}-barrel embedded in the OM; its N-terminal domain interacts with its cognate sigma factor in the cytoplasm, and both domains are tethered via an intrinsically disordered region that traverses the periplasm. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the Dma family is a unique feature of Bacteroidota. This study provides the first mechanistic insights into the regulation of OMV biogenesis in human gut bacteria.