Systems and Synthetic Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany.
PLoS One. 2011;6(9):e24235. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024235. Epub 2011 Sep 12.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a threatening, opportunistic pathogen causing disease in immunocompromised individuals. The hallmark of P. aeruginosa virulence is its multi-factorial and combinatorial nature. It renders such bacteria infectious for many organisms and it is often resistant to antibiotics. To gain insights into the physiology of P. aeruginosa during infection, we assessed the transcriptional programs of three different P. aeruginosa strains directly after isolation from burn wounds of humans. We compared the programs to those of the same strains using two infection models: a plant model, which consisted of the infection of the midrib of lettuce leaves, and a murine tumor model, which was obtained by infection of mice with an induced tumor in the abdomen. All control conditions of P. aeruginosa cells growing in suspension and as a biofilm were added to the analysis. We found that these different P. aeruginosa strains express a pool of distinct genetic traits that are activated under particular infection conditions regardless of their genetic variability. The knowledge herein generated will advance our understanding of P. aeruginosa virulence and provide valuable cues for the definition of prospective targets to develop novel intervention strategies.
铜绿假单胞菌是一种具有威胁性的机会致病菌，会导致免疫功能低下的个体发病。铜绿假单胞菌毒力的特点是其多因素和组合性质。这使得此类细菌对许多生物体具有传染性，并且通常对抗生素具有耐药性。为了深入了解感染期间铜绿假单胞菌的生理学特性，我们直接从人类烧伤伤口中分离出三种不同的铜绿假单胞菌菌株后，评估了它们的转录程序。我们将这些程序与使用两种感染模型的相同菌株的程序进行了比较：一种是植物模型，由生菜叶片中脉的感染组成，另一种是鼠肿瘤模型，通过在腹部诱导肿瘤感染小鼠获得。所有铜绿假单胞菌细胞在悬浮和生物膜中生长的对照条件都被添加到分析中。我们发现，这些不同的铜绿假单胞菌菌株表达了一组独特的遗传特征，这些特征在特定的感染条件下被激活，而不受其遗传变异性的影响。本文所产生的知识将有助于我们深入了解铜绿假单胞菌的毒力，并为定义新的干预策略的潜在目标提供有价值的线索。
