Affiliation:
1. Institut für Molekulare Infektionsbiologie, Universität Würzburg, D-97070 Würzburg, Germany
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Legionella pneumophila
, the etiologic agent of Legionnaires' disease, contains a single, monopolar flagellum which is composed of one major subunit, the FlaA protein. To evaluate the role of the flagellum in the pathogenesis and ecology of
Legionella
, the
flaA
gene of
L. pneumophila
Corby was mutagenized by introduction of a kanamycin resistance cassette. Immunoblots with antiflagellin-specific polyclonal antiserum, electron microscopy, and motility assays confirmed that the specific flagellar mutant
L. pneumophila
Corby KH3 was nonflagellated. The redelivery of the intact
flaA
gene into the chromosome (
L. pneumophila
Corby CD10) completely restored flagellation and motility. Coculture studies showed that the invasion efficiency of the
flaA
mutant was moderately reduced in amoebae and severely reduced in HL-60 cells. In contrast, adhesion and the intracellular rate of replication remained unaffected. Taking these results together, we have demonstrated that the flagellum of
L. pneumophila
positively affects the establishment of infection by facilitating the encounter of the host cell as well as by enhancing the invasion capacity.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Immunology,Microbiology,Parasitology
Cited by
102 articles.
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