Migration of Acanthamoeba castellanii Through Legionella Biofilms.

Abstract

The amoeba-resistant bacterium Legionella pneumophila infects humans through aerosols and thereby can cause a life-threatening pneumonia termed Legionnaires' disease. In the environment L. pneumophila forms and colonizes biofilms, which usually comprise complex multispecies communities. In these biofilms L. pneumophila persists and replicates intracellularly in protozoa, such as the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii. The interactions between sessile L. pneumophila in biofilms and their natural protozoan hosts are not understood on a molecular level. Here, we describe a method to visualize by confocal microscopy the formation and architecture of mono-species L. pneumophila biofilms. Furthermore, we describe and quantify the migration or "grazing" of A. castellanii in the biofilm. This allows investigating on a molecular and cellular level L. pneumophila biofilm formation and Legionella-amoeba interactions within biofilms.

• Authors: Ramon Hochstrasser, Hubert Hilbi
• Journal: Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) (Methods Mol Biol) Vol. 1921 Pg. 79-89 ( 2019) ISSN: 1940-6029 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 30694486 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Acanthamoeba castellanii (physiology)
• Biofilms
• Host-Pathogen Interactions
• Humans
• Legionella (physiology)
• Legionella pneumophila
• Locomotion
• Microscopy, Confocal