Life in the cystic fibrosis upper respiratory tract influences competitive ability of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

ABSTRACT: Understanding characteristic differences between host-associated and free-living opportunistic pathogens can provide insight into the fundamental requirements for success after dispersal to the host environment, and more generally into the ecological and evolutionary processes by which populations respond to simultaneous selection on complex interacting traits. We examined how cystic fibrosis (CF)-associated and environmental isolates of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa differ in the production of an ecologically important class of proteinaceous toxins known as bacteriocins, and how overall competitive ability depends on the production of and resistance to these bacteriocins. We determined bacteriocin gene content in a diverse collection of environmental and CF isol

SUBMITTER: Bara JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6170537 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature