title: Caenorhabditis elegans is a model host for Listeria monocytogenes.
abstract: Here we report that Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes fed Listeria monocytogenes die over the course of several days, as a consequence of an accumulation of bacteria in the worm intestine. Mutant strains previously shown to be important for virulence in mammalian models were also found to be attenuated in their virulence in C. elegans. However, ActA, which is required for actin-based intracellular motility, appears to be dispensable during infection of C. elegans, indicating that L. monocytogenes remains extracellular in C. elegans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL), Stigbøjlen 4, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Line E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: Sandra S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Slutz
authors.forename: Man-Wah
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ingmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000382:microbiology*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C072980:actA protein, Listeria monocytogenes