Distribution of virulence genes in environmental and clinical isolates of legionella pneumophila in busan, south korea.
DISTRIBUTION OF VIRULENCE GENES IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLINICAL ISOLATES OF LEGIONELLA PNEUMOPHILA IN BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA.
Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2017 Jan;48(1):83-90
Authors: Hwang IY, Park EH, Lee YC
Abstract
Legionella pneumophila is the major causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease.
The distribution of L. pneumophila in environmental water systems of public
facilities in Busan, South Korea was previously reported; however, the distribution
of virulence genes in environmental and clinical isolates in Busan is unknown.
Here, we investigated using PCR the distribution of three virulence loci (dot/icm,
lvh, and rtxA) in isolates from Busan. A high prevalence of environmental (127/254)
and clinical (3/4) isolates were observed for the simultaneous presence of all three
genes, while environmental harboring dot/icm + rtxA, dot/icm + lvh, rtxA + lvh, and
only one gene were 21%, 11%, 9% and <1-4%, respectively, The remaining clinical
isolate carried dot/icm + rtxA. In addition, 68% of isolates from serogroup 1, the
main cause of legionellosis, possessed all three virulence genes compared with
40% of isolates from serogroups 2 to 15. Prevalence of isolates with two genes was
5-14% and 6-29% in serogroup 1 and serogroups 2 to 15, respectively, whereas
that of isolates with one gene was 1-2% and 0-6%, respectively. These results provide
valuable information for epidemiological investigations of the relationship
between ...
Source: Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health - Category: Tropical Medicine Tags: Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health Source Type: research