Utilization of similar mechanisms by Legionella pneumophila to parasitize two evolutionarily distant host cells, mammalian macrophages and protozoa

Abstract

The Legionnaires' disease bacterium, Legionella pneumophila, is an intracellular pathogen of humans that is amplified in the environment by intracellular multiplication within protozoa. Within both evolutionarily distant hosts, the bacterium multiplies in a rough endoplasmic reticulum-surrounded phagosome that is retarded from maturation through the endosomal-lysosomal degradation pathway. To gain an understanding of the mechanisms utilized by L. pneumophila to invade and replicate within two evolutionarily distant hosts, we isolated a collection of 89 mini-Tn10::kan insertion mutants that exhibited defects in cytotoxicity, intracellular survival, and replication within both U937 macrophage-like cells and Acanthamoeba polyphaga. Interestingly, the patterns of defects in intracellular survival and replication of the mutants within both host cells were highly similar, and thus we designated the defective loci in these mutants pmi (for protozoan and macrophage infectivity loci). On the basis of their ability to attach to host cells and their growth kinetics during the intracellular infection, the mutants were grouped into five groups. Groups 1 and 2 included 41 mutants that were severely defective in intracellular survival and were completely or substantially killed during the first 4 h of infection in both host cells. Three members of group 1 were severely defective in attachment to both U937 cells and A. polyphaga, and another four mutants of group 1 exhibited severe defects in attachment to A. polyphaga but only a mild reduction in their attachment to U937 cells. Four members of groups 1 and 2 were serum sensitive. Intracellular replication of mutants of the other three groups was less defective than that of mutants of groups 1 and 2, and their growth kinetics within both host cells were similar. The mutants were tested for several other phenotypes in vitro, revealing that 14 of the pmi mutants were resistant to NaCl, 3 had insertions in dot or icm, 3 were aflagellar, 12 were highly intolerant to a hyperosmotic medium, and one failed to grow in a minimal medium. Our data indicated that similar mechanisms are utilized by L. pneumophila to replicate within two evolutionarily distant hosts. Although some mechanisms of attachment to both host cells were similar, other distinct mechanisms were utilized by L. pneumophila to attach to A. polyphaga. Our data supported the hypothesis that preadaptation of L. pneumophila to infection of protozoa may play a major role in its ability to replicate within mammalian cells and cause Legionnaires' disease.