title: [Biological and genetic characterization of strains of the pathogen of legionellosis, isolated from water on Russian territory].
abstract: As the result of the study of the spread of Legionella in different regions of Russia, 69 cultures were isolated from different water systems. After serotyping most of these strains (85%) were identified as L. pneumophila, serogroups 1 and 6. 57% of the isolated Legionella strains were shown to be capable of causing fatal infection in guinea pigs, but only 50% of virulent cultures had a high level of virulence. More than a half of the isolated strains (67%) contained plasmid DNA with mol. weights ranging from 2.5 to 80 mD. In some strains of serogroup 1 the identity of plasmids was established by restriction analysis (endonucleases Hind III and Bam HI). The data thus obtained are indicative of the potential epidemic danger of L.pneumophila strains circulating in the environment.
authors.affiliation: Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Marakusha
authors.forename: N D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Temezhnikova
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Gal'tseva
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Tartakovskiĭ
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Brudnyĭ
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Prozorovskiĭ
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D007876:Legionellosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D012426:Russia; D012703:Serotyping; D014774:Virulence; D014871:Water Microbiology
vernacular_title: Biologicheskie i geneticheskie kharakteristiki shtammov vozvuditelia legionelleza, vydelennykh iz vody na territorii Rossii.