The Coxiella burnetii Dot/Icm system delivers a unique repertoire of type IV effectors into host cells and is required for intracellular replication.

ABSTRACT: Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of human Q fever, is an intracellular pathogen that replicates in an acidified vacuole derived from the host lysosomal network. This pathogen encodes a Dot/Icm type IV secretion system that delivers bacterial proteins called effectors to the host cytosol. To identify new effector proteins, the functionally analogous Legionella pneumophila Dot/Icm system was used in a genetic screen to identify fragments of C. burnetii genomic DNA that when fused to an adenylate cyclase reporter were capable of directing Dot/Icm-dependent translocation of the fusion protein into mammalian host cells. This screen identified Dot/Icm effectors that were proteins unique to C. burnetii, having no overall sequence homology with L. pneumophila Dot/Icm effectors. A comparison

SUBMITTER: Carey KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3102713 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature