logo
    Catheter associated urinary tract infections by P. aeruginosa are related to variety of complications. Quorum sensing and related circuitry guard its virulence potential. Though P. aeruginosa accounts for an appreciable amount of virulence factors, this organism is highly unstable phenotypically. Thus, genotyping of clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa is of utmost importance for understanding the epidemiology of infection. This may contribute towards development of immunotherapeutic approaches against this multi drug resistant pathogen. Moreover, no epidemiological study has been reported yet on uroisolates of P. aeruginosa. Thus this study was planned to obtain information regarding presence, distribution and rate of occurrence of quorum sensing and some associated virulence genes at genetic level. The profiling of quorum sensing genes lasI, lasR, rhlI, rhlR and virulence genes like toxA, aprA, rhlAB, plcH, lasB and fliC of twelve strains of P. aeruginosa isolated from patients with UTIs was done by direct PCR. The results showed variable distribution of quorum sensing genes and virulence genes. Their percentage occurrence may be specifically associated with different levels of intrinsic virulence and pathogenicity in urinary tract. Such information can help in identifying these virulence genes as useful diagnostic markers for clinical P. aeruginosa strains isolated from UTIs.
    Pyocyanin
    Citations (75)
    Biofilms are surface-associated communities of microorganisms embedded within self-secreted extracellular polymeric substances, and a major cause of chronic and persistent infections. Respiratory Pseudomona aeruginosa infection is the leading reason for morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis patients. The formation of biofilms by P. aeruginosa in the airway is thought to increase persistence and antibiotic resistance during infection. Biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa is regulated by complicated signaling systems including quorum sensing and two-component systems that control the synthesis of extracellular polymeric substances. Furthermore, iron is an essential and scarce nutrient for bacteria and an important signal factor. P. aeruginosa has developed multiple iron uptake systems to sequester enough iron for its survival, with important regulatory roles in both release of virulence factors and formation of biofilms. In this review, we summarize recent advances in biofilm formation and its regulation along with the iron-uptake strategies in P. aeruginosa, to provide new insights and understanding to fight bacterial biofilms.生物被膜是单细胞微生物通过其分泌的胞外多聚基质粘附于介质表面并将其自身包绕其中而成的膜样微生物细胞聚集物。生物被膜的形成使细菌具有更强的适应外界环境的能力,也是导致微生物产生耐药性及慢性感染性疾病难以治疗的重要原因之一。铜绿假单胞菌在肺部的定殖是肺囊性纤维化病患者发病和死亡主要原因,其造成的感染通常与形成抗生素抗性极强的生物被膜有关。铜绿假单胞菌生物被膜的形成受控于多种复杂的细菌调控体系之下,包括群体感应系统及参与调节胞外多聚基质合成的双组分调控系统等。此外,为了利用低浓度的环境铁来维持生存并完成各种生理功能,铜绿假单胞菌进化出了一系列铁摄取系统,这些系统对其毒力因子的释放和生物被膜的形成又起着重要的调控作用。本文主要对铜绿假单胞菌生物被膜的形成与调控机制及其铁摄取系统进行了综述,为进一步了解及清除铜绿假单胞菌引发的问题提供途径与思路。.
    Extracellular polymeric substance
    Virulence factor
    Citations (13)
    Here we highlight the development of a simple and high-throughput mung bean model to study virulence in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The model is easy to set up, and infection and virulence can be monitored for up to 10 days. In a first test of the model, we found that mung bean seedlings infected with PAO1 showed poor development of roots and high mortality rates compared to uninfected controls. We also found that a quorum-sensing (QS) mutant was significantly less virulent when compared with the PAO1 wild-type. Our work introduces a new tool for studying virulence in P. aeruginosa that will allow for high-throughput virulence studies of mutants and testing of the in vivo efficacy of new therapies at a time when new antimicrobial drugs are desperately needed.
    Opportunistic pathogen
    Mung bean
    Citations (5)
    Component (thermodynamics)
    Citations (88)
    Efflux pumps of the resistance-nodulation-cell-division (RND) family increase antibiotic resistance in many bacterial pathogens, representing candidate targets for the development of antibiotic adjuvants. RND pumps have also been proposed to contribute to bacterial infection, implying that efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) could also act as anti-virulence drugs. Nevertheless, EPIs are usually investigated only for their properties as antibiotic adjuvants, while their potential anti-virulence activity is seldom taken into account. In this study it is shown that RND efflux pumps contribute to Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 pathogenicity in an insect model of infection, and that the well-characterized EPI Phe-Arg-β-naphthylamide (PAβN) is able to reduce in vivo virulence of the P. aeruginosa PAO1 laboratory strain, as well as of clinical isolates. The production of quorum sensing (QS) molecules and of QS-dependent virulence phenotypes is differentially affected by PAβN, depending on the strain. Transcriptomic and phenotypic analyses showed that the protection exerted by PAβN from P. aeruginosa PAO1 infection in vivo correlates with the down-regulation of key virulence genes (e.g. genes involved in iron and phosphate starvation). Since PAβN impacts P. aeruginosa virulence, anti-virulence properties of EPIs are worthy to be explored, taking into account possible strain-specificity of their activity.
    Efflux
    Strain (injury)
    Citations (80)
    Objective To conduct real-time observation of living biofilm formation and determine the thickness of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm.Methods After green fluorescent protein(GFP)expression plasmid was transfected to Pseudomonas aeruginosa,the horizontal section scanning of living biofilm was done in real-time with confocal laser scanning microscope(CLSM).The thickness of living biofilm was determined according to Z axial distance.Results The biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was observed in three stages,which were the adherence phase from 0 to 6 hours,the assembly phase from 6 to 24 hours,and the maturation phase from 24 to 72 hours.The thickness of the biofilm at 6,24,48,and 72 hr were 6.1±2.8,29.2±2.3,61.4±1.4,and 61.8±1.1μm,respectively.Statistical analysis showed that the thickness of the biofilm at 6 hr was less than that of at 24 hr(P0.01)and the thickness of the biofilm at 24 hr was less than that of at 48 hr(P0.01).There was no difference in the thickness of the biofilm between the time of 48 hr and 72 hr(P0.05).Conclusion CLSM can be used to observe the biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in real-time and to determine its thickness.
    Laser Microscopy
    Citations (0)
    ABSTRACT Biofilm formation is an important virulence factor for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The extracellular matrix of MRSA biofilms contains significant amounts of double-stranded DNA that hold the biofilm together. MRSA cells secrete micrococcal nuclease (Nuc1), which degrades double-stranded DNA. In this study, we used standard methodologies to investigate the role of Nuc1 in MRSA biofilm formation and dispersal. We quantified biofilm formation and extracellular DNA (eDNA) levels in broth and agar cultures. In some experiments, cultures were supplemented with sub-MIC amoxicillin to induce biofilm formation. Biofilm erosion was quantitated by culturing biofilms on rods and enumerating detached colony-forming units (CFUs), and biofilm sloughing was investigated by perfusing biofilms cultured in glass tubes with fresh broth and measuring the sizes of the detached cell aggregates. We found that an MRSA nuc1 − mutant strain produced significantly more biofilm and more eDNA than a wild-type strain, both in the absence and presence of sub-MIC amoxicillin. nuc1 − mutant biofilms grown on rods detached significantly less than wild-type biofilms. Detachment was restored by exogenous DNase or complementing the nuc1 − mutant. In the sloughing assay, nuc1 − mutant biofilms released cell aggregates that were significantly larger than those released by wild-type biofilms. Our results suggest that Nuc1 modulates biofilm formation, biofilm detachment, and the sizes of detached cell aggregates. These processes may play a role in the spread and subsequent survival of MRSA biofilms during biofilm-related infections. IMPORTANCE Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a significant problem in hospitals. MRSA forms adherent biofilms on implanted medical devices such as catheters and breathing tubes. Bacteria can detach from biofilms on these devices and spread to other parts of the body such as the blood or lungs, where they can cause life-threatening infections. In this article, researchers show that MRSA secretes an enzyme known as thermonuclease that causes bacteria to detach from the biofilm. This is important because understanding the mechanism by which MRSA detaches from biofilms could lead to the development of procedures to mitigate the problem.
    Sloughing
    Autolysin
    Extracellular polymeric substance
    Citations (3)
    This study sought to identify novel and nontoxic biofilm inhibitors from the Actinomycete library for attenuating biofilm formation by Staphylococcus epidermidis. After investigating the antibiofilm activities of spent media from 185 Actinomycete strains using two S. epidermidis strains (ATCC 35984 and a clinical strain 5‐121‐2) as target bacteria, three strains of tested Actinomycete (TRM 46200, TRM 41337, and TRM 46814) showed a significant inhibition against S. epidermidis biofilm formation without affecting the growth of planktonic cells. The characteristics of three strains of supernatants suggested that hydrophilic compound possibly extracellular peptides or proteins from these three strains, confer the biofilm reduction in S. epidermidis. An attempt was made to assess their effects on biofilm components and cell surface hydrophobicities in order to disclose acting mechanisms. The crude proteins from spent media of three strains degraded not only exopolysaccharides but also extracellular DNA in S. epidermidis biofilm. The active substances in crude proteins caused S. epidermidis cells to become less hydrophobic. Given these results, the metabolites from Actinomycete strains should keep further attention as potential antibiofilm agents against biofilm formation of S. epidermidis, even biofilm infections of the other bacteria. Staphylococcus epidermidis infections are frequently associated with biofilms that are difficult to eradicate with conventional antibiotics. The new biofilm inhibitors from Actinomycete will have a great value in the prevention and treatment of dairy cow mastitis and other biofilm‐related infections.
    Extracellular polymeric substance
    Citations (19)