A Legionella pneumophila effector protein encoded in a region of genomic plasticity binds to Dot/Icm-modified vacuoles.

ABSTRACT: Legionella pneumophila is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause a severe pneumonia called Legionnaires' disease. In the environment, L. pneumophila is found in fresh water reservoirs in a large spectrum of environmental conditions, where the bacteria are able to replicate within a variety of protozoan hosts. To survive within eukaryotic cells, L. pneumophila require a type IV secretion system, designated Dot/Icm, that delivers bacterial effector proteins into the host cell cytoplasm. In recent years, a number of Dot/Icm substrate proteins have been identified; however, the function of most of these proteins remains unknown, and it is unclear why the bacterium maintains such a large repertoire of effectors to promote its survival. Here we investigate a region of the L. pneumophila chromo

SUBMITTER: Ninio S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2621349 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature