Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Seminar Series
Didier Mena Aguilar, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Department of Civil and Env. Eng. and Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Proteomic and genomic characterization of the influence of copper on Legionella pneumophila and the drinking water microbiome
March 24, 2023
11:00 AM
404 NH Lincoln
160 PKI Omaha
Legionella pneumophila is a pathogen commonly found in drinking water plumbing and, when aerosolized during water use, infects the lungs of exposed individuals and causes a deadly form of pneumonia known as Legionnaires’ disease. Copper is a natural antimicrobial that can be present in drinking water due to passive release from copper pipes that may be used to control the growth of L. pneumophila. However, some L. pneumophila strains exhibit copper resistance, an adaptive process that is not fully understood at the physiological level. We described the copper survivability of three outbreak-associated strains of L. pneumophila and examined the copper-induced proteome of QC1, a strain found to display high resistance to copper. We then employed controlled microcosm studies to establish a fundamental understanding of interactive effects of pipe material and water of varying iron bioavailability (ferric chloride, ferrous chloride and ferric pyrophosphate) on the microbial community and its relationship with L. pneumophila numbers.