The Genomic Sequence of the Accidental Pathogen Legionella pneumophila
Minchen Chien,1*
Irina Morozova,1*
Shundi Shi,1*
Huitao Sheng,1
Jing Chen,1
Shawn M. Gomez,2
Gifty Asamani,1
Kendra Hill,1
John Nuara,1
Marc Feder,1
Justin Rineer,1
Joseph J. Greenberg,1
Valeria Steshenko,1
Samantha H. Park,1
Baohui Zhao,3
Elita Teplitskaya,1
John R. Edwards,1,4
Sergey Pampou,1
Anthi Georghiou,1
I.-Chun Chou,1
William Iannuccilli,1
Michael E. Ulz,1
Dae H. Kim,1
Alex Geringer-Sameth,1
Curtis Goldsberry,1
Pavel Morozov,1
Stuart G. Fischer,1
Gil Segal,5
Xiaoyan Qu,1
Andrey Rzhetsky,1
Peisen Zhang,1
Eftihia Cayanis,1
Pieter J. De Jong,3
Jingyue Ju,1,4
Sergey Kalachikov,1
Howard A. Shuman,6
James J. Russo1
We present the genomic sequence of Legionella pneumophila, the bacterial agent of Legionnaires' disease, a potentially fatal pneumonia acquired from aerosolized contaminated fresh water. The genome includes a 45–kilobase pair element that can exist in chromosomal and episomal forms, selective expansions of important gene families, genes for unexpected metabolic pathways, and previously unknown candidate virulence determinants. We highlight the genes that may account for Legionella's ability to survive in protozoa, mammalian macrophages, and inhospitable environmental niches and that may define new therapeutic targets.
1 Columbia Genome Center, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA.
2 Unite de Biochimie et Biologie Moleculaire des Insectes, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015 France.
3 BACPAC Resources Laboratory, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA.
4 Department of Chemical Engineering, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
5 Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
6 Department of Microbiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA.
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Present address: BACPAC Resources Center, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA 94609, USA.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jjr4{at}columbia.edu
