Legionella pneumophila Rhizoferrin Promotes Bacterial Biofilm Formation and Growth within Amoebae and Macrophages

Abstract

Previously, we showed that Legionella pneumophila secretes rhizoferrin, a polycarboxylate siderophore that promotes bacterial growth in iron-deplete media and the murine lung. Yet, past studies failed to identify a role for the rhizoferrin biosynthetic gene ( lbtA ) in L. pneumophila infection of host cells, suggesting the siderophore’s importance was solely linked to extracellular survival.