In vivo evidence of Pseudomonas aeruignosa nutrient acquisition and pathogenesis in the cystic fibrosis lung

One of the hallmarks of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cystic fibrosis (CF) infection is very high-cell-density (HCD) replication in the lung, allowing this bacterium to induce virulence controlled by HCD quorum-sensing systems. However, the nutrient sources sustaining HCD replication in this chronic infection is largely unknown. Hence, understanding the nutrient factors contributing to HCD in the CF lung will yield new insights into the 'metabolic pathogenicity' and potential treatment of CF infections caused by P. aeruginosa. Herein, we performed microarray studies of P. aeruginosa directly isolated from the CF lung to demonstrate its metabolic capability and virulence in vivo. Our in vivo microarray data, confirmed by real-time reverse-transcription-PCR, indicated P. aeruginosa expressed several genes for virulence, drug-resistance, and utilization of multiple nutrient sources (lung surfactant lipids and amino acids) contributing to HCD replication. The data also indicates deregulation of several pathways, suggesting in vivo evolution by deregulation of a large portion of the transcriptome during chronic CF infection. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo transcriptome of P. aeruginosa in a natural CF infection, and it indicates several important aspects of pathogenesis, drug-resistance, and nutrient-utilization never before observed in vivo.

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Son MS, Matthews WJ Jr, Kang Y, Nguyen DT, Hoang TT