This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Quinn, F D Articles by Tompkins, L S Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Quinn, F D Articles by Tompkins, L S

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infect Immun. 1989 September; 57(9): 2719-2725

Genetic, immunological, and cytotoxic comparisons of Legionella proteolytic activities.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, California 94305.

ABSTRACT

Several strains of Legionella pneumophila and other species of Legionella with proteolytic activities were compared by assays, including Southern hybridizations and Western immunoblots, to determine their proteolytic, hemolytic, and cytotoxic activities. Only proteases from strains of L. pneumophila were both hemolytic and cytotoxic, and proteolytic activities extracted from other species of Legionella possessed only hemolytic activity. A 4.0-kilobase DNA sequence encoding the 38-kilodalton metalloprotease from L. pneumophila Philadelphia 1 that we showed previously was responsible for the observed hemolytic and cytotoxic phenotypes (F. D. Quinn and L. S. Tompkins, Mol. Microbiol., 3:797-805, 1989) was used in Southern hybridizations to probe chromosomal DNA from several strains of L. pneumophila and other Legionella species. The probe hybridized to the chromosomal DNA of all serogroups of L. pneumophila but not to any strains of L. dumoffii, L. micdadei, L. feeleii, or L. jordanis that we examined. Additionally, Western immunoblots done with rabbit antisera made to the cloned L. pneumophila protease demonstrated cross-reactions among 38-kilodalton proteins from strains of L. pneumophila, but no reactions were observed with proteins from other species of Legionella. Similarly, the cloned protease from L. pneumophila reacted with convalescent-phase sera from patients infected with L. pneumophila, but not with antisera isolated from patients infected with other Legionella species. Thus, despite some similarities among the proteolytic activities of members of the genus Legionella, including proteolytic and hemolytic phenotypes, metal requirements for zinc or iron, sensitivity to EDTA, and temperature and pH optima, we documented distinct genetic, immunological, and cytotoxicity differences among the proteolytic activities produced by Legionella species.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Ohnishi, H., Mizunoe, Y., Takade, A., Tanaka, Y., Miyamoto, H., Harada, M., Yoshida, S.-i. (2004). Legionella dumoffii DjlA, a Member of the DnaJ Family, Is Required for Intracellular Growth. Infect. Immun. 72: 3592-3603 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rossier, O., Starkenburg, S. R., Cianciotto, N. P. (2004). Legionella pneumophila Type II Protein Secretion Promotes Virulence in the A/J Mouse Model of Legionnaires' Disease Pneumonia. Infect. Immun. 72: 310-321 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Neumeister, B., Faigle, M., Lauber, K., Northoff, H., Wesselborg, S. (2002). Legionella pneumophila induces apoptosis via the mitochondrial death pathway. Microbiology 148: 3639-3650 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chico-Calero, I., Suarez, M., Gonzalez-Zorn, B., Scortti, M., Slaghuis, J., Goebel, W., The European Listeria Genome Consortium, , Vazquez-Boland, J. A. (2001). Hpt, a bacterial homolog of the microsomal glucose- 6-phosphate translocase, mediates rapid intracellular proliferation in Listeria. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.012363899v1 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• DelVecchio, V. G., Kapatral, V., Redkar, R. J., Patra, G., Mujer, C., Los, T., Ivanova, N., Anderson, I., Bhattacharyya, A., Lykidis, A., Reznik, G., Jablonski, L., Larsen, N., D'Souza, M., Bernal, A., Mazur, M., Goltsman, E., Selkov, E., Elzer, P. H., Hagius, S., O'Callaghan, D., Letesson, J.-J., Haselkorn, R., Kyrpides, N., Overbeek, R. (2001). The genome sequence of the facultative intracellular pathogen Brucella melitensis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.221575398v1 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Baxter, F, McChesney, J (2000). Severe group A streptococcal infection and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Canadian J. Anesthesia 47: 1129-1140 [Abstract]