The Polar Legionella Icm/Dot T4SS Establishes Distinct Contact Sites with the Pathogen Vacuole Membrane.

ABSTRACT: Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, is a facultative intracellular pathogen that survives inside phagocytic host cells by establishing a protected replication niche, termed the "Legionella-containing vacuole" (LCV). To form an LCV and subvert pivotal host pathways, L. pneumophila employs a type IV secretion system (T4SS), which translocates more than 300 different effector proteins into the host cell. The L. pneumophila T4SS complex has been shown to span the bacterial cell envelope at the bacterial poles. However, the interactions between the T4SS and the LCV membrane are not understood. Using cryo-focused ion beam milling, cryo-electron tomography, and confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy, we show that up to half of the intravacuolar L.

SUBMITTER: Bock D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8510526 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature