Department of Medical Zoology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul 02447, Korea.
Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Korea.
Korean J Parasitol. 2021 Feb;59(1):67-75. doi: 10.3347/kjp.2021.59.1.67. Epub 2021 Feb 19.
Legionella pneumophila is an opportunistic pathogen that survives and proliferates within protists such as Acanthamoeba spp. in environment. However, intracellular pathogenic endosymbiosis and its implications within Acanthamoeba spp. remain poorly understood. In this study, RNA sequencing analysis was used to investigate transcriptional changes in A. castellanii in response to L. pneumophila infection. Based on RNA sequencing data, we identified 1,211 upregulated genes and 1,131 downregulated genes in A. castellanii infected with L. pneumophila for 12 hr. After 24 hr, 1,321 upregulated genes and 1,379 downregulated genes were identified. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that L. pneumophila endosymbiosis enhanced hydrolase activity, catalytic activity, and DNA binding while reducing oxidoreductase activity in the molecular function (MF) domain. In particular, multiple genes associated with the GO term 'integral component of membrane' were downregulated during endosymbiosis. The endosymbiont also induced differential expression of various methyltransferases and acetyltransferases in A. castellanii. Findings herein are may significantly contribute to understanding endosymbiosis of L. pneumophila within A. castellanii.
嗜肺军团菌是一种机会性病原体，能够在环境中的原生动物（如棘阿米巴属）中生存和繁殖。然而，其在棘阿米巴属内的细胞内致病共生关系及其影响仍知之甚少。在本研究中，我们使用 RNA 测序分析来研究棘阿米巴属对嗜肺军团菌感染的转录变化。基于 RNA 测序数据，我们在感染嗜肺军团菌 12 小时的棘阿米巴属中鉴定出 1211 个上调基因和 1131 个下调基因。24 小时后，鉴定出 1321 个上调基因和 1379 个下调基因。GO 分析表明，嗜肺军团菌共生增强了水解酶活性、催化活性和 DNA 结合活性，同时降低了分子功能（MF）域中的氧化还原酶活性。特别是，在共生过程中，与“膜的整合成分”GO 术语相关的多个基因下调。共生体还诱导了棘阿米巴属中各种甲基转移酶和乙酰转移酶的差异表达。本研究结果可能对理解嗜肺军团菌在棘阿米巴属内的共生关系有重要贡献。
