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. Differential expression transcriptional profiling of Legionella pneumophila wt and regulatory mutants.