The Intracellular Metabolism of Legionella by Isotopologue Profiling

Metabolic pathways and fluxes can be analyzed under in vivo conditions by incorporation experiments using general ¹³ C-labeled precursors. On the basis of the isotopologue compositions in amino acids or other metabolites, the incorporation rates of the supplied precursors and the pathways of their utilization can be studied in considerable detail. In this chapter, the method of isotopologue profiling is illustrated with recent work on the metabolism of intracellular living Legionella pneumophila .