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PMID: 4030689 Published · ppublish English Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Genetic structure of populations of Legionella pneumophila.

Journal of bacteriology ·Vol. 163 ·No. 3 ·1985-09-00 ·Pages 1021-37

Selander RK, McKinney RM, Whittam TS, Bibb WF, Brenner DJ, Nolte FS, Pattison PE

Abstract

The genetic structure of populations of Legionella pneumophila was defined by an analysis of electrophoretically demonstrable allelic variation at structural genes encoding 22 enzymes in 292 isolates from clinical and environmental sources. Nineteen of the loci were polymorphic, and 62 distinctive electrophoretic types (ETs), representing multilocus genotypes, were identified. Principal coordinates and clustering analyses demonstrated that isolates received as L. pneumophila were a heterogeneous array of genotypes that included two previously undescribed species. For 50 ETs of L. pneumophila (strict sense), mean genetic diversity per locus was 0.312, and diversity was equivalent in ETs represented by isolates recovered from clinical sources and those collected from environmental sources. Cluster analysis revealed four major groups or lineages of ETs in L. pneumophila. Genetic diversity among ETs of the same serotype was, on average, 93% of that in the total sample of ETs. Isolates marked by particular patterns of reactivity to a panel of nine monoclonal antibodies were also genetically heterogeneous, mean diversity within patterns being about 75% of the total. Both Pontiac fever and the pneumonic form of legionellosis may be caused by isolates of the same ET. The genetic structure of L. pneumophila is clonal, and many clones apparently are worldwide in distribution. The fact that L. pneumophila is only 60% as variable as Escherichia coli raises the possibility that isolates recovered from clinical cases and man-made environments are a restricted subset of all clones in the species as a whole.

MeSH Terms
Alleles Antibodies, Monoclonal Enzymes/genetics Genes Genes, Bacterial Genetic Variation Humans Legionella/genetics,isolation & purification Legionnaires' Disease/microbiology Serotyping Species Specificity
Chemicals
Antibodies, Monoclonal Enzymes
Authors & Affiliations
7 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Selander R K
McKinney R M
Whittam T S
Bibb W F
Brenner D J
Nolte F S
Pattison P E
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40 references, click to expand
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Article Info
Journal
Journal of bacteriology
Abbr.
J Bacteriol
ISSN
0021-9193
DOI
10.1128/jb.163.3.1021-1037.1985
Published
1985-09-00
Pages
1021-37
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
2985120R
PMCID
PMC219234
Subset
IM
Grants
NIAID NIH HHS · AI 22144 · United States
NIDCR NIH HHS · DE 06031 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/jb.163.3.1021-1037.1985 PMC Full Text View journal details
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