Nutrient Acquisition and Assimilation Strategies of Legionella pneumophila
Maris V. Fonseca, John-Demian Sauer and Michele S. Swanson
from: Legionella: Molecular Microbiology (Edited by: Klaus Heuner and Michele Swanson). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2008)
Abstract
The fitness of the opportunistic pathogen L. pneumophila is a result of selective pressures in its natural freshwater environments. L. pneumophila has thus developed a sophisticated morphogenetic code that equips it to dramatically alter its developmental state in response changes in its microenvironment. It is now clear that the cellular and molecular transformations that occur during the L. pneumophila life cycle are integrated with its metabolic state. This is exemplified by its reciprocal expression of traits that promote replication within host cells and those that promote transmission to a new host or its differentiation into cyst-like forms of greatly reduced metabolic activity. Insight into some aspects of the metabolic machinery that equip L. pneumophila to satisfy its nutritional requirements have been gained through studies of the molecular mechanisms that promote its differentiation. Availability of the genome sequences of L. pneumophila strains Philadelphia-1, Paris and Lens has also increased our power to decipher the strategies L. pneumophila employs to acquire and assimilate nutrients from its environment. By integrating knowledge gained from genetic, biochemical, molecular and computational approaches, this chapter presents our current view of the metabolic capabilities of L. pneumophila, focusing on its key metabolic features, nutritional requirements and specialized nutrient acquisition systems read more ...
