“…ESX-3 secretion system is required for MBT-mediated iron acquisition ( Siegrist et al., 2009 ), and expression of the esx-3 operon is regulated by Zur and IdeR, to maintain the dynamic balance of Zn and iron, respectively ( Rodriguez et al., 2002 ; Serafini et al., 2013 ; Kim et al., 2017 ; Li et al., 2020 ). Under high iron and Zn concentrations, metalloproteins negatively regulate ESX-3 transcription ( Granados-Tristán et al., 2023 ). In M. smegmatis , ESX-3 T7SS is involved in metal dynamic homeostasis, therefore, we hypothesized that ESX-3 T7SS is closely related to the virulence of MTB.…”