Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium can inject effector proteins into host cells via type III secretion systems (T3SSs). These effector proteins modulate a variety of host transcriptional responses to facilitate bacterial growth and survival. Here we show that infection of host cells with S. Typhimurium specifically induces the ubiquitination of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6). This TRAF6 ubiquitination is triggered by the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1) T3SS effectors SopB and SopE2. We also demonstrate that TRAF6 is involved in the SopB/ SopE2-induced phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a signaling event conducive to the intracellular growth of S. Typhimurium. Specifically, TRAF6 mediates lysine-63 ubiquitination within the Src homology 2 (SH2) domain of STAT3, which is an essential step for STAT3 membrane recruitment and subsequent phosphorylation in response to S. Typhimurium infection. TRAF6 ubiquitination participates in STAT3 phosphorylation rather than serving as only a hallmark of E3 ubiquitin ligase activation. Our results reveal a novel strategy in which S. Typhimurium T3SS effectors broaden their functions through the activation of host proteins in a ubiquitination-dependent manner to manipulate host cells into becoming a Salmonella-friendly zone.KEYWORDS Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, TRAF6, ubiquitination, STAT3, Salmonella effectors I nfection with bacterial pathogens often induces host inflammatory responses (1), which are initiated by the recognition of microbial products, collectively known as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). PAMPs are recognized by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) or cytosolic NOD-like receptors (NLRs) (1, 2), which activate nuclear factor B (NF-B) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines critical for host defenses (3, 4). To overcome host defenses, some pathogens have developed strategies to dampen the host innate immune response by inactivating MAPKs or NF-B signaling. For instance, the Shigella flexneri phosphothreonine lyase OspF, which is injected into host cells by a type III secretion system (T3SS), inactivates the innate immune response by dephosphorylating MAPKs (5). The Yersinia protein YopJ/YopP, a T3SS effector protein containing both