Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 28781746
F1000Res 2017;6
The bacterial pathogen ( ) is the causative agent of listeriosis, a rare but fatal foodborne disease. During infection, can traverse several host barriers and enter the cytosol of a variety of cell types. Thus, consideration of the extracellular and intracellular niches of is critical for understanding the infection process. Here, we review advances in our understanding of infection and highlight how the interactions between the host and the pathogen are context dependent. We discuss discoveries of how senses entry into the host cell cytosol. We present findings concerning how the nature of the various cytoskeleton components subverted by changes depending on both the stage of infection and the subcellular context. We present discoveries of critical components required for traversal of physiological barriers. Interactions between the host gut microbiota and will be briefly discussed. Finally, the importance of biodiversity and post-genomics approaches as a promising way to discover novel virulence factors will be highlighted.