1932

Abstract

For over seven decades, , the causative agent of human Q fever, has been considered a prototypical obligate intracellular bacterium that relies exclusively on a eukaryotic cell for growth. Intracellularly, the organism prospers in an acidified, phagolysosome-like vacuole. has evolved to replicate in this harsh compartment by a mechanism involving acid activation of metabolism. The ∼2 Mb genome of is about twice the size of genomes of most obligate intracellular bacteria, and the organism's central metabolic pathways are largely intact. The absence of extensive genome reduction suggests the adaptation of to an obligate intracellular lifestyle is a recent evolutionary event. Indeed, insight from early work on metabolism, along with new information gained from metabolic pathway reconstructions, nutrient typing, and expression profiling, allowed the rescue of from its host cell to regain the axenic growth capacity of its ancestors. This advance removes the extensive experimental obstacles associated with intracellular obligatism and opens the door for a renaissance in research.

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/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-micro-090110-102927
2011-06-02
2024-12-08
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  • Article Type: Review Article
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