Pertussis toxin is an AB 5 toxin comprised of protein subunits S1 through S5. The individual subunits are secreted by a Sec-dependent mechanism into the periplasm, where the toxin is assembled. The Ptl type IV secretion system mediates secretion of assembled toxin past the outer membrane. In this study, we examined the time course of protein expression, toxin assembly, and secretion as a function of the bacterial growth cycle. Logarithmic growth was observed after a 1-h lag phase. Secreted toxin was first observed at 3 h. Secretion continued throughout the logarithmic growth phase and decreased as the culture entered the stationary phase after about 24 h. On a per cell basis, toxin secretion occurred at a constant rate of 3 molecules/min/cell from 2 to 18 h. More of toxin subunits S1, S2, and S3 were produced than were secreted, resulting in periplasmic accumulation. Periplasmic S1, S2, and S3 were found to be soluble in the periplasm, as well as membrane associated. About one-half of the periplasmic S1, S2 and S3 subunits were incorporated into holotoxin. Secretion component PtlF was present at a low level at time zero, and the level increased between 2 and 24 h from 30 to 1,000 molecules per cell; however, the initial level of PtlF, 30 molecules per cell, supported maximal secretion. The accumulation of both periplasmic toxin and secretion components suggests that translation rates exceed the rate of secretion and that secretion, not toxin and Ptl complex assembly, is rate limiting.Pertussis toxin is an AB 5 toxin comprised of the products of five genes, S1 through S5 (25, 27). The A subunit of the toxin is the S1 polypeptide, while the pentameric B subunit is comprised of S2, S3, S4, and S5, assembled in a ratio of 1:1:2:1 (36). Pertussis toxin is secreted past the outer membrane of Bordetella pertussis by a type IV secretion system comprised of the products of the nine ptl (for "pertussis toxin liberation") genes (8,10,42). The ptl genes are located immediately downstream of the pertussis toxin genes (42) and are transcribed from the same promoter (2, 18, 31).It is not known how many secretion complexes are present in one bacterium during active secretion, nor is the stoichiometry of the proteins in the complex known. The structures of other type IV systems, such as the Agrobacterium tumefaciens virB system (11,38,40), which secretes a tumerogenic T-DNA and effector proteins into host plant cells, and the P-plasmid tra conjugation genes (23), have been more thoroughly studied than the Ptl system. The extensive similarity suggests that the Ptl proteins also form a large complex spanning both the inner and outer membranes. Nevertheless, the Ptl secretion system and the DNA transport systems have substantially different substrates and functions. The most intriguing difference is that the same basic machinery transports protein-coated DNA between the cytoplasm of two cells for the conjugation systems or a periplasmic protein complex across the outer membrane in the case of the Ptl system. Functionally, the DNA t...