Outer membrane vesicle

These vesicles are involved in trafficking bacterial cell signaling biochemicals, which may include DNA, RNA, proteins, endotoxins and allied virulence molecules.

[7][8] This mechanism imparts a variety of benefits like, long-distance delivery of bacterial secretory cargo with minimized hydrolytic degradation and extra-cellular dilution, also supplemented with other supportive molecules (e.g., virulence factors) to accomplish a specific job and yet, keeping a safe-distance from the defense arsenal of the targeted cells.

In 'complacent' bacterial colonies, OMVs may be used to carry DNA to 'related' microbes for genetic transformations, and also translocate cell signaling molecules for quorum sensing and biofilm formation.

It is expected that environmental factors around the secretory microbes are responsible for inducing these bacteria to synthesize and secrete specifically-enriched OMVs, physiologically suiting the immediate task.

Thus, bacterial OMVs, being strong immunomodulators,[9] can be manipulated for their immunogenic contents and utilized as potent pathogen-free vaccines[10] for immunizing humans and animals against threatening infections.

[16] Bacterial membrane vesicles' dispersion along the cell surface was measured in live Escherichia coli, commensal bacteria common in the human gut.

OMVs are also under focus of current research in exocytosis in prokaryotes via outer membrane vesicle trafficking for intra-species, inter-species and inter-kingdom cell signaling, which is slated to change our mindset on virulence of microbes, host–pathogen interactions and inter-relationships among variety of species in earth's ecosystem.

Transmission electron micrograph of outer membrane vesicles (OMV) (size 80–90 nm, dia) released by human pathogen Salmonella 3,10:r:- in chicken ileum, in vivo . OMVs were proposed to be 'blown off' from large bacterial periplasmic protrusions, called periplasmic organelles (PO) with the help of 'bubble tube'-like assembly of about four type III secretion injectisomal rivet complexes (riveting bacterial outer and cell membrane to allow pockets of periplasm to expand into POs). This allows membrane vesicle trafficking of OMVs from gram negative bacteria to dock on host epithelial cell membrane (microvilli), proposed to translocate signal molecules from pathogen to host cells at the host–pathogen interface .