Legionella pneumophila Dot/Icm translocated substrates: a sum of parts

Legionella pneumophila is an intracellular pathogen of freshwater amoeba and of alveolar macrophages in human hosts. After phagocytosis, L. pneumophila establishes a unique intracellular vacuolar niche that avoids entry into the lysosomal network. Critical for L. pneumophila intracellular growth is the Dot/Icm type IVB translocation system. Although over 80 substrates of the Dot/Icm apparatus have been identified, individual substrates are often genetically redundant, complicating their analysis. Deletion of critical Dot/Icm translocation system components causes a variety of defects during intracellular growth. Many of these effects on the host cell likely result from the actions of one or more Dot/Icm translocated substrates. Loss of single substrates never generates the profound effects observed in strains lacking translocation system components.