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Query: UMLS:C0023241 (Legionella)
 6,990 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Legionellae have been found to be highly susceptible to a variety of biological products, which increases the difficulty of growing these microorganisms. We developed a hypotonic medium in which Legionella pneumophila and other legionellae grow well and multiply rapidly from small inocula. Several amino acids, mainly nonessential ones, inhibited the growth of legionellae at high concentrations (200-1,000 micrograms/ml). We describe a unique biological phenomenon of specific inhibition of growth of L. pneumophila by the plant growth hormone auxin (indole-3-acetic acid) and the closely related indole-3-propionic acid (IPA). The inhibition of growth was probably due to interference with the biosynthesis of L-tryptophan by the phytohormone or IPA. Other bacteria were found to be 50 to 100-fold more resistant to these agents. These findings may explain the peculiar ecology of legionellae. Bacterial susceptibility towards IPA (less than or equal to 5 micrograms/ml) may serve as a specific marker for the presence of legionellae.
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PMID:Phytohormones as specific inhibitors of Legionella pneumophila growth. 234 83

A/J mouse macrophages infected with Legionella pneumophila and treated with gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in vitro developed potent antimicrobial activity. This antilegionella activity was independent of the macrophage capacity to generate reactive oxygen intermediates, since the oxygen radical scavengers catalase, superoxide dismutase, mannitol, and thiourea had no effect on the antilegionella activity of IFN-gamma-activated macrophages. Likewise, whereas the ability of IFN-gamma-activated macrophages to synthesize reactive nitrogen intermediates was markedly inhibited by the L-arginine (Arg) analogs, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine and L-aminoguanidine, as well as by incubation in L-Arg-free medium, their ability to inhibit the intracellular growth of L. pneumophila remained intact. The intracellular growth of L. pneumophila in A/J macrophages was inhibited by the iron(III) chelator desferrioxamine and reversed by Fe-transferrin as well as by ferric salts. Additionally, IFN-gamma-activated macrophages incorporated 28% less 59Fe(III) compared with nonactivated cells. Nonetheless, only partial blocking of growth restriction was observed when IFN-gamma-stimulated macrophages were saturated with iron(III). Indole-propionic acid, which appears to inhibit the biosynthesis of L-tryptophan (L-Trp), was an L-Trp-reversible growth inhibitor of L. pneumophila in macrophages, implying that the intracellular replication of this pathogen is also L-Trp dependent. However, an excess of exogenous L-Trp did not reverse the growth inhibition due to IFN-gamma, though a small synergistic effect was observed when the culture medium was supplemented with both iron(III) and L-Trp. We conclude that IFN-gamma-activated macrophages inhibit the intracellular proliferation of L. pneumophila by reactive oxygen intermediate- and reactive nitrogen intermediate-independent mechanisms and just partially by nutritionally dependent mechanisms. We also suggest that additional mechanisms, still unclear, may be involved, since complete reversion was never obtained and since at higher concentrations of IFN-gamma, iron(III) did not induce any significant reversion in the L. pneumophila growth inhibition.
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PMID:Inhibition of Legionella pneumophila growth by gamma interferon in permissive A/J mouse macrophages: role of reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, tryptophan, and iron(III). 803 89