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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2004;292:2329.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In 2 new reports, scientists described advances in deciphering the genome of the bacterium that causes legionnaires disease that may help investigators understand the microbe’s adaptability and speed the development of new treatments.

Scientists have sequenced the genome of Legionella pneumophila, the bacterium that causes legionnaires disease. Photo credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Researchers from the United States, France, and Israel reported in late September that they had sequenced a strain of Legionella pneumophila derived from the 1976 isolate that caused a US outbreak at an American Legion convention (Science. 2004;305:1966-1968). The work revealed genes that "may account for Legionella’s ability to survive in protozoa, mammalian macrophages, and inhospitable environmental niches and that may define new therapeutic targets," they noted. L pneumophila thrives in warm stagnant water (such as that found in certain plumbing systems and hot water tanks) and can . . . [Full Text of this Article]