Listeriology (1926-2007): the rise of a model pathogen.
Listeria monocytogenes is an ubiquitous gram positive bacterium responsible for a severe food borne disease in human and animals which has become a multifaceted model. Indeed, it is a facultative intracellular bacterium that induces an amazingly rapid and sterilizing T-cell response and has been--and still is--widely used by immunologists. Listeria's strategies to invade non-phagocytic cells and spread from cell to cell have been and still are outstandingly instrumental to address key questions in cell biology. Orally acquired listeriosis can now be studied in relevant animal models. Finally, Listeria is among the few bacteria which have so rapidly benefited from comparative genomics. It now ranks among the most documented pathogens.
Cossart
Pascale
P
Unité des interactions Bactéries-Cellules, INSERM U604, INRA USC 2020, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75015 Paris, France. pcossart@pasteur.fr
D000818:Animals; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008087:Listeria / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000266:history* / Q000382:microbiology*