The phagosomal transporter A couples threonine acquisition to differentiation and replication of Legionella pneumophila in macrophages.

ABSTRACT: Differentiation in response to environmental cues is integral to the success of many intracellular pathogens. By characterizing a Legionella pneumophila mutant defective for differentiation in broth and replication in macrophages, we identified a subfamily of major facilitator superfamily transporters, here named Pht (phagosomal transporter), that also is conserved in two other vacuolar pathogens, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis. Biolog phenotype microarray analysis indicated that PhtA transports threonine, an essential amino acid. Either excess threonine or threonine peptides bypass phtA function. In minimal medium, phtA mutants do not replicate; in rich broth, the bacteria prematurely differentiate to the transmissive phase, as judged by the kinetics of flaA-gfp expression,

SUBMITTER: Sauer JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1174991 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature