Characterization of growth-phase dependent expression of host factors that modulate mutagenic retrohoming in Legionella pneumophila through RNA-Seq analysis

Diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) function through a mutagenic retrohoming mechanism that introduces localized nucleotide substitutions in genes. Throught transcriptional profiling of the DGR genes and host global regulatory networks, here we probe how tight host-control over DGR activity balances the benefit of localized protein diversification with the potential loss of fitness from unbridled mutagenesis. Overall design: Differential expression transcriptional profiling of Legionella pneumophila wt and regulatory mutants.