Legionella pneumophila: from amoeba to macrophage metabolism

Abstract

Legionella pneumophila is an aquatic bacterium that has emerged as an accidental human pathogen. Within the aquatic environment, L. pneumophila has evolved virulence factors to survive predation by environmental amoebae. These virulence factors are hypothesised to allow the adaptation of the bacteria to replicate in human alveolar macrophages. During infection, L. pneumophila forms a replicative vacuole termed the Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV) that sustains the bacterial intracellular replication. Establishment of the LCV requires the Dot/Icm type IV secretion system (T4SS), that secretes over 330 bacterial proteins termed effectors into the infected host cell in order to manipulate ho..