Ancient bacteria–amoeba relationships and pathogenic animal bacteria

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2002460
• Publication Date: 2017-05-02T17:25:11Z
• Authors: Joan E. Strassmann; Longfei Shu
• Keywords: Bordetella bronchiseptica

Long before bacteria infected humans, they amoebas, which remain a potentially important reservoir for human disease. Diverse soil amoebas including Dictyostelium and Acanthamoeba can host intracellular bacteria. Though the internal environment of free-living is similar in many ways to that mammalian macrophages, differ number ways, temperature. A new study PLOS Biology by Taylor-Mulneix et al. demonstrates Bordetella bronchiseptica has two different gene suites are activated depending on whether bacterium finds itself hot or cool amoeba environment. This specifically shows B. not only inhabits but persist multiply through social stage an host, discoideum.