Pseudomonas aeruginosa rugose small-colony variants evade host clearance, are hyper-inflammatory, and persist in multiple host environments.

ABSTRACT: Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes devastating infections in immunocompromised individuals. Once established, P. aeruginosa infections become incredibly difficult to treat due to the development of antibiotic tolerant, aggregated communities known as biofilms. A hyper-biofilm forming clinical variant of P. aeruginosa, known as a rugose small-colony variant (RSCV), is frequently isolated from chronic infections and is correlated with poor clinical outcome. The development of these mutants during infection suggests a selective advantage for this phenotype, but it remains unclear how this phenotype promotes persistence. While prior studies suggest RSCVs could survive by evading the host immune response, our study reveals infection with the RSCV, PAO1ΔwspF, stimulated an extensive inflammatory resp

SUBMITTER: Pestrak MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5812653 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature