Open Collections

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

TypA is involved in virulence, antimicrobial resistance and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Neidig, Anke; Yeung, Amy T; Rosay, Thibaut; Tettmann, Beatrix; Strempel, Nikola; Rueger, Martina; Lesouhaitier, Olivier; Overhage, Joerg

Abstract

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic human pathogen and is extremely difficult to treat due to its high intrinsic and adaptive antibiotic resistance, ability to form biofilms in chronic infections and broad arsenal of virulence factors, which are finely regulated. TypA is a GTPase that has recently been identified to modulate virulence in enteric Gram-negative pathogens. Results: Here, we demonstrate that mutation of typA in P. aeruginosa resulted in reduced virulence in phagocytic amoebae and human macrophage models of infection. In addition, the typA mutant was attenuated in rapid cell attachment to surfaces and biofilm formation, and exhibited reduced antibiotic resistance to ß-lactam, tetracycline and antimicrobial peptide antibiotics. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed the down-regulation, in a typA mutant, of important virulence-related genes such as those involved in regulation and assembly of the Type III secretion system, consistent with the observed phenotypes and role in virulence of P. aeruginosa. Conclusions: These data suggest that TypA is a newly identified modulator of pathogenesis in P. aeruginosa and is involved in multiple virulence-related characteristics.

Item Metadata

Title
TypA is involved in virulence, antimicrobial resistance and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Creator
Neidig, Anke; Yeung, Amy T; Rosay, Thibaut; Tettmann, Beatrix; Strempel, Nikola; Rueger, Martina; Lesouhaitier, Olivier; Overhage, Joerg
Publisher
BioMed Central
Date Issued
2013-04-09
Description
Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic human pathogen and is extremely difficult to treat due to its high intrinsic and adaptive antibiotic resistance, ability to form biofilms in chronic infections and broad arsenal of virulence factors, which are finely regulated. TypA is a GTPase that has recently been identified to modulate virulence in enteric Gram-negative pathogens. Results: Here, we demonstrate that mutation of typA in P. aeruginosa resulted in reduced virulence in phagocytic amoebae and human macrophage models of infection. In addition, the typA mutant was attenuated in rapid cell attachment to surfaces and biofilm formation, and exhibited reduced antibiotic resistance to ß-lactam, tetracycline and antimicrobial peptide antibiotics. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed the down-regulation, in a typA mutant, of important virulence-related genes such as those involved in regulation and assembly of the Type III secretion system, consistent with the observed phenotypes and role in virulence of P. aeruginosa. Conclusions: These data suggest that TypA is a newly identified modulator of pathogenesis in P. aeruginosa and is involved in multiple virulence-related characteristics.
Subject
Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pathogen; TypA; Type III secretion system; Virulence; Dictyostelium discoideum; Macrophage; Biofilm; Resistance
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2016-01-09
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
DOI
10.14288/1.0223219
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/56336
Affiliation
Other UBC; Non UBC
Citation
BMC Microbiology. 2013 Apr 09;13(1):77
Publisher DOI
10.1186/1471-2180-13-77
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Copyright Holder
Neidig et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)