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. 1984 Mar;47(3):467–471. doi: 10.1128/aem.47.3.467-471.1984

Proliferation of Legionella pneumophila as an intracellular parasite of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis.

B S Fields, E B Shotts Jr, J C Feeley, G W Gorman, W T Martin
PMCID: PMC239703  PMID: 6424568

Abstract

In a series of experiments, we have determined that Legionella pneumophila will proliferate as an intracellular parasite of the ciliated holotrich Tetrahymena pyriformis in sterile tap water at 35 degrees C. After 7 days of incubation, serpentine chains of approximately 10(3) L. pneumophila cells were observed throughout the cytoplasm of the protozoan infected initially with 1 to 30 L. pneumophila cells. The overall L. pneumophila population increased from ca. 1.0 X 10(2) to ca. 5.0 X 10(4) cells per ml in the coculture within this time frame. The interactions between the protozoan and the bacterium appear to depend upon their concentrations as well as temperature of incubation. L. pneumophila did not multiply in sterile tap water alone, in suspensions of lysed T. pyriformis, or in cell-free filtrates of a T. pyriformis culture. In addition to establishing an ecological model, we found that addition of T. pyriformis to environmental specimens served as an enrichment method that improved isolation of legionella from the specimens.

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Selected References

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

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