Cooperation and virulence of clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria communicate and cooperate to perform a wide range of social behaviors including production of extracellular products (public goods) that are crucial for growth and virulence. Their expression may be switched on by the detection of threshold densities of diffusible signals [Quorum-Sensing (QS)]. Studies using the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa suggest that QS "cheats"-individuals that don't respond to the QS signal, but are still able to use public goods produced by others-have a selective advantage in the presence of QS cooperators. It is, however, unclear whether this type of social exploitation is relevant in clinical contexts. Here, we report the evolutionary dynamics and virulence of P. aeruginosa populations during lung colonization of mechanically ventilated p

SUBMITTER: Kohler T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2669332 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature