Adaptation to an Amoeba Host Leads to Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates with Attenuated Virulence.

ABSTRACT: The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is ubiquitous in the environment, and in humans, it is capable of causing acute or chronic infections. In the natural environment, predation by bacterivorous protozoa represents a primary threat to bacteria. Here, we determined the impact of long-term exposure of P. aeruginosa to predation pressure. P. aeruginosa persisted when coincubated with the bacterivorous Acanthamoeba castellanii for extended periods and produced genetic and phenotypic variants. Sequencing of late-stage amoeba-adapted P. aeruginosa isolates demonstrated single nucleotide polymorphisms within genes that encode known virulence factors, and this correlated with a reduction in expression of virulence traits. Virulence for the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was attenuate

SUBMITTER: Leong W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8904051 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature