The Role of Lipids in Legionella-Host Interaction

Legionella are Gram-stain-negative rods associated with water environments: either natural or man-made systems. The inhalation of aerosols containing Legionella bacteria leads to the development of a severe pneumonia termed Legionnaires’ disease. To establish an infection, these bacteria adapt to growth in the hostile environment of the host through the unusual structures of macromolecules that build the cell surface. The outer membrane of the cell envelope is a lipid bilayer with an asymmetric composition mostly of phospholipids in the inner leaflet and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in the outer leaflet. The major membrane-forming phospholipid of Legionella spp. is phosphatidylcholine (PC)—a typical eukaryotic glycerophospholipid. PC synthesis in Legionella cells occurs via two independent pathways: the N-methylation (Pmt) pathway and the Pcs pathway. The utilisation of exogenous choline by Legionella spp. leads to changes in the composition of lipids and proteins, which influences the physicochemical properties of the cell surface. This phenotypic plasticity of the Legionella cell envelope determines the mode of interaction with the macrophages, which results in a decrease in the production of proinflammatory cytokines and modulates the interaction with antimicrobial peptides and proteins. The surface-exposed O-chain of Legionella pneumophila sg1 LPS consisting of a homopolymer of 5-acetamidino-7-acetamido-8-O-acetyl-3,5,7,9-tetradeoxy-l-glycero-d-galacto-non-2-ulosonic acid is probably the first component in contact with the host cell that anchors the bacteria in the host membrane. Unusual in terms of the structure and function of individual LPS regions, it makes an important contribution to the antigenicity and pathogenicity of Legionella bacteria.