Salmonella effector SopD promotes plasma membrane scission by inhibiting Rab10

Salmonella utilizes translocated virulence proteins (termed effectors) to promote host cell invasion. The effector SopD contributes to invasion by promoting scission of the plasma membrane, generating Salmonella-containing vacuoles. SopD is expressed in all Salmonella lineages and plays important roles in animal models of infection, but its host cell targets are unknown. Here we show that SopD can bind to and inhibit the small GTPase Rab10, through a C-terminal GTPase activating protein (GAP) domain. During infection, Rab10 and its effectors MICAL-L1 and EHBP1 are recruited to invasion sites. By inhibiting Rab10, SopD promotes removal of Rab10 and recruitment of Dynamin-2 to drive scission of the plasma membrane. Together, our study uncovers an important role for Rab10 in regulating plasma membrane scission and identifies the mechanism used by a bacterial pathogen to manipulate this function during infection. Salmonella secretes the effector protein SopD into the host cell cytoplasm, leading to scission of the plasma membrane through unclear mechanisms. Here, Boddy et al. show that SopD binds to and inhibits the small GTPase Rab10, thus promoting removal of Rab10 and recruitment of dynamin-2 to drive plasma membrane scission.