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Infect Immun, May 1998, p. 1898-1903, Vol. 66, No. 5
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Identification of the Aspartate-beta -Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase Gene of Legionella pneumophila and Characterization of a Null Mutant

Omar S. Harb and Yousef Abu Kwaik*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky 40536-0084

Received 10 November 1997/Returned for modification 27 January 1998/Accepted 13 February 1998

The ability of Legionella pneumophila to cause Legionnaires' disease is dependent on its capacity to survive in the intracellular environment of its host cells. Furthermore, outbreaks of this disease have been associated with contaminated water sources where L. pneumophila survives as a parasite of protozoa. In this study, we determined the effect of nutritional auxotrophy on the ability of L. pneumophila to survive in the intracellular environment of its host cells. We generated a diaminopimelic acid (DAP) auxotroph (AA400) of L. pneumophila by disruption of the aspartate-beta -semialdehyde (asd) gene. The ability of AA400 to survive within macrophages and protozoa was found to be defective. This defect was due solely to the asd disruption since complementation of the mutant with the wild-type asd gene restored its capacity for intracellular survival. Furthermore, the defect was not completely complemented by DAP supplementation to the culture media. Thus, our results suggest that disruption of the asd gene may prove to be useful in the design of attenuated vaccines against Legionnaires' disease.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, Lexington, KY 40536-0084. Phone: (606) 323-3873. Fax: (606) 257-8994. E-mail: yabukw{at}pop.uky.edu.

Infect Immun, May 1998, p. 1898-1903, Vol. 66, No. 5
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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