title: A Legionella pneumophila collagen-like protein encoded by a gene with a variable number of tandem repeats is involved in the adherence and invasion of host cells.
abstract: Legionella pneumophila is a Gram-negative, facultative intracellular pathogen and the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, a severe pneumonia in humans. Analysis of the Legionella sequenced genomes revealed a gene with a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs), whose number varies between strains. We examined the strain distribution of this gene among a collection of 108 clinical, environmental and hot spring serotype I strains. Twelve variants were identified, but no correlation was observed between the number of repeat units and clinical and environmental strains. The encoded protein contains the C-terminal consensus motif of outer membrane proteins and has a large region of collagen-like repeats that is encoded by the VNTR region. We have therefore annotated this protein Lcl for Legionella collagen-like protein. Lcl was shown to contribute to the adherence and invasion of host cells and it was demonstrated that the number of repeat units present in lcl had an influence on these adhesion characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vandersmissen
authors.forename: Emmy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Buck
authors.forename: Veerle
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saels
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Coil
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Anné
mesh_terms: D048248:Acanthamoeba castellanii / Q000382:microbiology; D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D045482:Hot Springs / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000382:microbiology; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D037521:Virulence Factors