Legionella pneumophila is a facultative intracellular pathogen found in aquatic environments as planktonic cells within biofilms and as intracellular parasites of free-living amoebae such as Acanthamoeba castellanii. This pathogen bypasses the elimination mechanism to replicate within amoebae; however, not all amoeba species support the growth of L. pneumophila. Willaertia magna C2c Maky, a non-pathogenic amoeba, was previously demonstrated to possess the ability to eliminate the L. pneumophila strain Paris. Here, we study the intracellular behaviour of three L. pneumophila strains (Paris, Philadelphia, and Lens) within W. magna C2c Maky and compare this strain to A. castellanii and W. magna Z503, which are used as controls. We observe the intracellular growth of strain Lens within W. magna Z503 and A. castellanii at 22 °C and 37 °C. Strain Paris grows within A. castellanii at any temperature, while it only grows at 22 °C within W. magna Z503. Strain Philadelphia proliferates only within A. castellanii at 37 °C. Within W. magna C2c Maky, none of the three legionella strains exhibit intracellular growth. Additionally, the ability of W. magna C2c Maky to decrease the number of internalized L. pneumophila is confirmed. These results support the idea that W. magna C2c Maky possesses unique behaviour in regard to L. pneumophila strains.

Legionellosis, an often-lethal pneumonia, is generally associated with contamination by Legionella pneumophila. This bacterium can persist in the environment and resist chemical treatment when it is internalized by amoebae. In addition, there is increasing medical proof that other Legionella species can be causative agents of Legionellosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether Legionella non-pneumophila (Lnp) strains were able to use the machinery of amoeba to multiply, or whether amoebae were able to limit their proliferation. Seven strains belonging to the species L. longbeachae, L. anisa, L. bozemanae, L. taurinensis, and L. dumoffii were cocultured with three amoebae, Acanthamoeba castellanii, Willaertia magna T5(S)44, and Willaertia magna C2c Maky, at two temperatures, 22 and 37 °C. We found that at 22 °C, all amoebae were able to phagocytose the seven Lnp strains and to avoid intracellular development, except for L. longbeachae, which was able to multiply inside W. magna T5(S)44. At 37 °C, four Lnp strains were able to hijack the machinery of one or two amoebae and to use it to proliferate, but none were able to multiply inside W. magna C2c Maky.