Protein acetylation is a universal post-translational modification which is found in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. This process is achieved enzymatically by the protein acetyltransferase Pat, and nonenzymatically by metabolic intermediates (e.g., acetyl phosphate) in bacteria. Protein acetylation plays a role in bacterial chemotaxis, metabolism, DNA replication, and other cellular processes. Recently, accumulating evidence has suggested that protein acetylation might be involved in bacterial virulence because a number of bacterial virulence factors are acetylated. In this review, we summarize the progress in understanding bacterial protein acetylation and discuss how it mediates bacterial virulence.

蛋白质乙酰化是普遍存在的翻译后修饰，在真核生物和原核生物中均发现。该过程通过蛋白质乙酰基转移酶Pat酶促地实现，并且通过细菌中的代谢中间体（例如乙酰基磷酸盐）非酶促地实现。蛋白质乙酰化在细菌趋化性，代谢，DNA复制和其他细胞过程中起作用。最近，越来越多的证据表明蛋白质乙酰化可能与细菌毒力有关，因为许多细菌毒力因子都被乙酰化了。在这篇综述中，我们总结了了解细菌蛋白乙酰化的进展，并讨论了其如何介导细菌毒力。