Affiliation:
1. Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences
2. Department of Pediatrics, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii
Abstract
ABSTRACT
One of the hallmarks of
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
infection in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is very-high-cell-density (HCD) replication in the lung, allowing this bacterium to induce virulence controlled by the quorum-sensing systems. However, the nutrient sources sustaining HCD replication in this chronic infection are largely unknown. Here, we performed microarray studies of
P. aeruginosa
directly isolated from the lungs of CF patients to demonstrate its metabolic capability and virulence in vivo. In vivo microarray data, confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-PCR, indicated that the
P. aeruginosa
population expressed several genes for virulence, drug resistance, and utilization of multiple nutrient sources (lung surfactant lipids and amino acids) contributing to HCD replication. The most abundant lung surfactant lipid molecule, phosphatidylcholine (PC), induces key genes of
P. aeruginosa
pertinent to PC degradation in vitro as well as in vivo within the lungs of CF patients. The results support recent research indicating that
P. aeruginosa
exists in the lungs of CF patients as a diverse population with full virulence potential. The data also indicate that there is deregulation of several pathways, suggesting that there is in vivo evolution by deregulation of a large portion of the transcriptome during chronic infection in CF patients. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo transcriptome analysis of
P. aeruginosa
in a natural infection in CF patients, and the results indicate several important aspects of
P. aeruginosa
pathogenesis, drug resistance, nutrient utilization, and general metabolism within the lungs of CF patients.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Immunology,Microbiology,Parasitology
Cited by
246 articles.
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