A Pseudomonas aeruginosa small RNA regulates chronic and acute infection.

ABSTRACT: The ability to switch between different lifestyles allows bacterial pathogens to thrive in diverse ecological niches^1,2. However, a molecular understanding of their lifestyle changes within the human host is lacking. Here, by directly examining bacterial gene expression in human-derived samples, we discover a gene that orchestrates the transition between chronic and acute infection in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The expression level of this gene, here named sicX, is the highest of the P. aeruginosa genes expressed in human chronic wound and cystic fibrosis infections, but it is expressed at extremely low levels during standard laboratory growth. We show that sicX encodes a small RNA that is strongly induced by low-oxygen conditions and post-transcriptional

SUBMITTER: Cao P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10247376 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature