Future Microbiol. 2015;10(2):231-9. doi: 10.2217/fmb.14.107.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common pathogen that colonizes the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. Isolates from sputum are typically all derived from the same strain of bacterium but show extensive phenotypic heterogeneity. One of these variants is the so-called small colony variant, which also shows increased ability to form a biofilm and is frequently resistant to multiple antibiotics. The presence of small colony variants in the sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis is associated with a worse clinical condition. The underlying mechanism responsible for generation of the small colony phenotype remains unclear, but a final common pathway would appear to be elevation of intracellular levels of cyclic di-GMP. This phenotypic variant is thus not just a laboratory curiosity, but a significant bacterial adaptation that favors survival within the lung of patients with cystic fibrosis and contributes to the pulmonary damage caused by P. aeruginosa.
铜绿假单胞菌是定植于囊性纤维化患者肺部最常见的病原体。来自痰液的分离株通常均源自同一细菌株，但表现出广泛的表型异质性。其中一种变体是所谓的小菌落变体，它还表现出增强的形成生物膜的能力，并且经常对多种抗生素具有抗性。囊性纤维化患者痰液中小菌落变体的存在与更差的临床状况相关。导致小菌落表型产生的潜在机制尚不清楚，但似乎最终的共同途径是细胞内环二鸟苷酸水平的升高。因此，这种表型变体不仅是实验室的好奇心，而且是一种重要的细菌适应性，有利于在囊性纤维化患者的肺部中存活，并导致铜绿假单胞菌引起的肺部损伤。
