Skip to main content
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1996 May;64(5):1873–1875. doi: 10.1128/iai.64.5.1873-1875.1996

Absence of siderophore-like activity in Legionella pneumophila supernatants.

M R Liles 1, N P Cianciotto 1
PMCID: PMC174009  PMID: 8613408

Abstract

Conflicting reports have been given as to the existence of a Legionella pneumophila siderophore. Hence, we rigorously examined the reported siderophore-like activity using the chrome azurol S indicator. Although chrome azurol S reactivity was detected in supernatants, control experiments indicate that it was due to cysteine in the media. When bacteria were cultured in media without cysteine, no siderophores were detected.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (211.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Dowling J. N., Saha A. K., Glew R. H. Virulence factors of the family Legionellaceae. Microbiol Rev. 1992 Mar;56(1):32–60. doi: 10.1128/mr.56.1.32-60.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Drechsel H., Thieken A., Reissbrodt R., Jung G., Winkelmann G. Alpha-keto acids are novel siderophores in the genera Proteus, Providencia, and Morganella and are produced by amino acid deaminases. J Bacteriol. 1993 May;175(9):2727–2733. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.9.2727-2733.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Edelstein P. H. Comparative study of selective media for isolation of Legionella pneumophila from potable water. J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Oct;16(4):697–699. doi: 10.1128/jcm.16.4.697-699.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Engleberg N. C., Drutz D. J., Eisenstein B. I. Cloning and expression of Legionella pneumophila antigens in Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 1984 May;44(2):222–227. doi: 10.1128/iai.44.2.222-227.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gaitonde M. K. A spectrophotometric method for the direct determination of cysteine in the presence of other naturally occurring amino acids. Biochem J. 1967 Aug;104(2):627–633. doi: 10.1042/bj1040627. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Goldoni P., Visca P., Pastoris M. C., Valenti P., Orsi N. Growth of Legionella spp. under conditions of iron restriction. J Med Microbiol. 1991 Feb;34(2):113–118. doi: 10.1099/00222615-34-2-113. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Guerinot M. L., Meidl E. J., Plessner O. Citrate as a siderophore in Bradyrhizobium japonicum. J Bacteriol. 1990 Jun;172(6):3298–3303. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.6.3298-3303.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hickey E. K., Cianciotto N. P. Cloning and sequencing of the Legionella pneumophila fur gene. Gene. 1994 May 27;143(1):117–121. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(94)90615-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Horwitz M. A. Interactions between macrophages and Legionella pneumophila. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1992;181:265–282. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-77377-8_10. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Marra A., Shuman H. A. Genetics of Legionella pneumophila virulence. Annu Rev Genet. 1992;26:51–69. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.26.120192.000411. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pine L., Hoffman P. S., Malcolm G. B., Benson R. F., Franzus M. J. Role of keto acids and reduced-oxygen-scavenging enzymes in the growth of Legionella species. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Jan;23(1):33–42. doi: 10.1128/jcm.23.1.33-42.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Poch M. T., Johnson W. Ferric reductases of Legionella pneumophila. Biometals. 1993 Summer;6(2):107–114. doi: 10.1007/BF00140111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pope C. D., O'Connell W., Cianciotto N. P. Legionella pneumophila mutants that are defective for iron acquisition and assimilation and intracellular infection. Infect Immun. 1996 Feb;64(2):629–636. doi: 10.1128/iai.64.2.629-636.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Reeves M. W., Pine L., Neilands J. B., Balows A. Absence of siderophore activity in Legionella species grown in iron-deficient media. J Bacteriol. 1983 Apr;154(1):324–329. doi: 10.1128/jb.154.1.324-329.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schwyn B., Neilands J. B. Universal chemical assay for the detection and determination of siderophores. Anal Biochem. 1987 Jan;160(1):47–56. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(87)90612-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Warren W. J., Miller R. D. Growth of Legionnaires disease bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) in chemically defined medium. J Clin Microbiol. 1979 Jul;10(1):50–55. doi: 10.1128/jcm.10.1.50-55.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES