FRANCIS W. CHANDLER, D.V.M., Ph.D.; BERENICE M. THOMASON, B.S.; G. ANN HÉBERT, B.S.
Recently, we observed flagella on several strains of the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium Legionella pneumophila, grown for 1 to 3 days on charcoal yeast extract (CYE) agar and examined by light and immunofluorescence microscopy (1). Flagella were also easily seen on Legionella micdadei (2, 3) (another name, Legionella pittsburgensis, has been proposed for this organism [4]), Legionella bozemanii (5) and Legionella dumoffii (5, 6) grown on CYE agar. Unlike Mueller-Hinton agar (7), CYE agar stimulates early profuse growth of the bacterium, a condition necessary for optimal flagellar synthesis (8). Because flagella were seen on L. pneumophila in vitro, we have
CHANDLER FW, THOMASON BM, HÉBERT GA. Flagella on Legionnaires' Disease Bacteria in the Human Lung. Ann Intern Med. 1980;93:715–716. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-93-5-715
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Published: Ann Intern Med. 1980;93(5):715-716.
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-93-5-715
Infectious Disease, Pulmonary/Critical Care.