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Dictyostelium discoideum: a model host to measure bacterial virulence

Nature Protocols volume 4, pages 25–30 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Dictyostelium amoebae have been used as a host model to measure virulence of a wide range of bacterial pathogens. The simple protocol described here takes advantage of the ability of Dictyostelium to grow and form plaques on a lawn of nonpathogenic bacteria but not on virulent bacteria. This assay can be modulated to measure the virulence of different bacterial pathogens. By adjusting various parameters such as cell numbers or media, a more quantitative measure of bacterial virulence can also be obtained. The entire procedure takes about 5 h to compete, and up to 2 further weeks may be required for plaques to form on the bacterial lawn.

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Figure 1: Virulence of bacteria against Dictyostelium: effect of the medium.
Figure 2: Assessment of bacteria virulence.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Fonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique to P.C. Our research group participates in the NEMO Network, supported by the 3R Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Physiologie et Métabolisme Cellulaire, Centre Médical Universitaire, Université de Genève, Rue Michel Servet 1, Genève 4, CH-1211, Switzerland

    Romain Froquet, Emmanuelle Lelong, Anna Marchetti & Pierre Cosson

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  1. Romain Froquet
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  2. Emmanuelle Lelong
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  3. Anna Marchetti
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  4. Pierre Cosson
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Correspondence to Pierre Cosson.

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Froquet, R., Lelong, E., Marchetti, A. et al. Dictyostelium discoideum: a model host to measure bacterial virulence. Nat Protoc 4, 25–30 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2008.212

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