title: Molecular and infection biology of the horse pathogen Rhodococcus equi.
abstract: The soil actinomycete Rhodococcus equi is a pulmonary pathogen of young horses and AIDS patients. As a facultative intracellular bacterium, R. equi survives and multiplies in macrophages and establishes its specific niche inside the host cell. Recent research into chromosomal virulence factors and into the role of virulence plasmids in infection and host tropism has presented novel aspects of R. equi infection biology and pathogenicity. This review will focus on new findings in R. equi biology, the trafficking of R. equi-containing vacuoles inside host cells, factors involved in virulence and host resistance and on host-pathogen interaction on organismal and cellular levels.
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. bargen@uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: von Bargen
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000193:Actinomycetales Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D006736:Horses / Q000382:microbiology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology*; D016929:Rhodococcus equi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors