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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2008, p. 3026-3035, Vol. 190, No. 8
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01798-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Lgt: a Family of Cytotoxic Glucosyltransferases Produced by Legionella pneumophila{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Yury Belyi,1 Irina Tabakova,1 Michael Stahl,2 and Klaus Aktories2*

Gamaleya Research Institute, Moscow 123098, Russia,1 Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany2

Received 14 November 2007/ Accepted 5 February 2008

Legionella pneumophila is a facultative intracellular pathogen responsible for severe lung disease in humans, known as legionellosis or Legionnaires' disease. Previously, we reported on the ~60-kDa glucosyltransferase (Lgt1) from Legionella pneumophila, which modified eukaryotic elongation factor 1A. In the present study, using L. pneumophila Philadelphia-1, Lens, Paris, and Corby genome databases, we identified several genes coding for proteins with considerable sequence homology to Lgt1. These new enzymes form three subfamilies, termed Lgt1 to -3, glucosylate mammalian elongation factor eEF1A at serine-53, inhibit its activity, and subsequently kill target eukaryotic cells. Expression studies on L. pneumophila grown in broth medium or in Acanthamoeba castellanii revealed that production of Lgt1 was maximal at stationary phase of broth culture or during the late phase of Legionella-host cell interaction, respectively. In contrast, synthesis of Lgt3 peaked during the lag phase of liquid culture and at early steps of bacterium-amoeba interaction. Thus, the data indicate that members of the L. pneumophila glucosyltransferase family are differentially regulated, affect protein synthesis of host cells, and represent potential virulence factors of Legionella.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Freiburg, Albertstr. 25, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Phone: (49) 761 2035301. Fax: (49) 761 2035311. E-mail: Klaus.Aktories{at}pharmakol.uni-freiburg.de

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 15 February 2008.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2008, p. 3026-3035, Vol. 190, No. 8
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01798-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Belyi, Y., Stahl, M., Sovkova, I., Kaden, P., Luy, B., Aktories, K. (2009). Region of Elongation Factor 1A1 Involved in Substrate Recognition by Legionella pneumophila Glucosyltransferase Lgt1: IDENTIFICATION OF Lgt1 AS A RETAINING GLUCOSYLTRANSFERASE. J. Biol. Chem. 284: 20167-20174 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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