004) between WT/pMMBNlcl(14) and the WT strain (Fig. 6a). For the macrophage-like cell line, the WT/pMMBNlcl adhered and invaded the macrophage cells significantly better than the WT cells after 60 min (P=0.04). The adhesion and invasion of the WT/pMMBNlcl(14) strain, on the other hand, did not differ significantly from that of the WT strain (P=0.26). Additionally, there was a significantly better adhesion and invasion of WT/pMMBNlcl compared with WT/pMMBNlcl(14) (P=0.002) (Fig. 6b). Firstly, these SCH772984 observations demonstrate that overexpression of Lcl enhanced
the adhesion of L. pneumophila to host cells. Secondly, the number of repeat units seemed to be an additional factor for adhesion, and finally, it was observed that the effect of variation in repeat number on adhesion is dependent on the host cell used. Here, we described the characterization of a collagen-like protein encoded by a gene with a VNTR region annotated as Lcl. It was demonstrated that Lcl is involved in L. pneumophila host cell adhesion and invasion and interacts with the C1qR. Furthermore, it was observed that the number of repeat units likely influences the adhesion characteristics of the encoded collagen-like protein. However, no correlation was found between BMS-907351 cell line clinical strains and number of repeat units and further work is required to elucidate the importance of this
collagen-like protein in the virulence of L. pneumophila. This research was financially supported by Onderzoeksfonds K.U. Leuven (OT/05/62) and Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) (G.0289.06). DnaK, LepB and Lpa antibodies were kind gifts from Dr P. Mazodier and Dr G. von Heijne and L. Vranckx, respectively. We would like to thank Dr J. Van Damme for the kind gift of THP-1 cells and Dr R. Quarck for the A549 cells. The Research Group of Dr S. Jarraud, Centre National de Référence des légionelles, Lyon, France, is also acknowledged for performing
the sequence-based typing. “
“The intracellular bacteria, Wolbachia, are well known for inducing reproductive alterations in arthropod hosts, especially insects. The ancient origin and huge diversity, combined with the ecological, biological and behavioral plasticity of termites, make the very latter exciting candidates for studying the interactions of Wolbachia. In the present study, we investigated the distribution of Wolbachia in populations of Odontotermes spp. and Coptotermes heimi termites occurring in 14 colonies (12 Odontotermes spp. and two C. heimi) from different locations in India. A striking diversity was observed among Wolbachia strains in closely related hosts based on five MLST genes (ftsZ, coxA, fbpA, hcpA and gatB) and the 16S rRNA gene. Wolbachia variants from two supergroups (B and F) were found in both the termite genera under study. This is the first report of Wolbachia infection in the Odontotermes genus.