Evolution and adaptation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms driven by mismatch repair system-deficient mutators.

ABSTRACT: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen causing chronic airway infections, especially in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The majority of the CF patients acquire P. aeruginosa during early childhood, and most of them develop chronic infections resulting in severe lung disease, which are rarely eradicated despite intensive antibiotic therapy. Current knowledge indicates that three major adaptive strategies, biofilm development, phenotypic diversification, and mutator phenotypes [driven by a defective mismatch repair system (MRS)], play important roles in P. aeruginosa chronic infections, but the relationship between these strategies is still poorly understood. We have used the flow-cell biofilm model system to investigate the impact of the mutS associated mutator phenoty

SUBMITTER: Lujan AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3219696 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature