Listeria monocytogenes: at the coalface of host-pathogen research.

Listeria monocytogenes is a highly adaptable food-borne pathogen that causes the life threatening illness listeriosis in infected individuals. Within the host this bacterium invades cells, escapes into the host cell cytosol and replicates intracellularly. To achieve this L. monocytogenes has evolved a sophisticated set of molecular weaponry that allows it to interact with and manipulate the cell biology of the host to its own advantage. Many of these interactions are well understood, putting this pathogen at the forefront of host-pathogen research, but fascinating new interactions are still emerging. The seventeenth International Symposium on Problems of Listeriosis (ISOPOL) was held in Portugal (Porto) in May of this year and this report describes some of the exciting developments that were presented at the meeting. The report focuses on developments in understanding the molecular interactions between L. monocytogenes and the host; it describes novel uses for L. monocytogenes as an anti-cancer treatment; and it describes some innovative uses of transcriptional profiling and reporter gene fusions that are helping illuminate our understanding of the basic biology of this important pathogen.