Proteomic Analysis of Growth Phase-Dependent Expression of <em>Legionella pneumophila</em> Proteins Which Involves Regulation of Bacterial Virulence Traits Tsuyoshi Hayashi Masahiro Nakamichi Hirotaka Naitou Norio Ohashi Yasuyuki Imai Masaki Miyake 10.1371/journal.pone.0011718 https://plos.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Proteomic_Analysis_of_Growth_Phase_Dependent_Expression_of_Legionella_pneumophila_Proteins_Which_Involves_Regulation_of_Bacterial_Virulence_Traits/142547 <div><p><em>Legionella pneumophila</em>, which is a causative pathogen of Legionnaires' disease, expresses its virulent traits in response to growth conditions. In particular, it is known to become virulent at a post-exponential phase <em>in vitro</em> culture. In this study, we performed a proteomic analysis of differences in expression between the exponential phase and post-exponential phase to identify candidates associated with <em>L. pneumophila</em> virulence using 2-Dimentional Fluorescence Difference Gel Electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) combined with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization–Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Of 68 identified proteins that significantly differed in expression between the two growth phases, 64 were up-regulated at a post-exponential phase. The up-regulated proteins included enzymes related to glycolysis, ketone body biogenesis and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) biogenesis, suggesting that <em>L. pneumophila</em> may utilize sugars and lipids as energy sources, when amino acids become scarce. Proteins related to motility (flagella components and twitching motility-associated proteins) were also up-regulated, predicting that they enhance infectivity of the bacteria in host cells under certain conditions. Furthermore, 9 up-regulated proteins of unknown function were found. Two of them were identified as novel bacterial factors associated with hemolysis of sheep red blood cells (SRBCs). Another 2 were found to be translocated into macrophages via the Icm/Dot type IV secretion apparatus as effector candidates in a reporter assay with <em>Bordetella pertussis</em> adenylate cyclase. The study will be helpful for virulent analysis of <em>L. pneumophila</em> from the viewpoint of physiological or metabolic modulation dependent on growth phase.</p></div> 2010-07-22 00:42:27 proteomic phase-dependent proteins involves bacterial virulence traits