Legionella Pnuemophilia is a pathogen to most of its host. Even though this bacterium is not intended to harm other organisms, because it has a fast growth rate it causes great harm to those organisms. This particular bacterium is a heterotroph. It needs Ferric iron and L-cysteine as its essential nutrient for it to grow and it also likes other Amino acids. Since this bacterium is found in water systems like air conditioning systems in large buildings and other similar systems, it is required for oxygen to be present for growth. In those water systems, the temperature is usually an optimal temperature for bacterium growth with a temperature between 25 and 45 degrees Celsius. It has the ability to cause illness when cultivated in temperatures between 37-42 degrees Celsius.
For doctors to diagnose patients with Legionnaire’s Disease, the patient has to go through lab testing. In the lab, they put the specimen on a special charcoal agar with a liquid medium that is buffered charcoal yeast extract. It takes up to 24-48 hours for the results of the test.
CDC sample of water specimens containing Legionella bacterium.
When the bacterium is in the host cell, it goes through binary fission. As shown in the video below, it enters the macrophage and creates a vacuole to stop phagosome maturation and starts to replicate within the cell.