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Valentin JDP, Altenried S, Varadarajan AR, Ahrens CH, Schreiber F, Webb JS, van der Mei HC, Ren Q. Identification of Potential Antimicrobial Targets of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms through a Novel Screening Approach. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0309922. [PMID: 36779712 PMCID: PMC10100978 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03099-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen of considerable medical importance, owing to its pronounced antibiotic tolerance and association with cystic fibrosis and other life-threatening diseases. The aim of this study was to highlight the genes responsible for P. aeruginosa biofilm tolerance to antibiotics and thereby identify potential new targets for the development of drugs against biofilm-related infections. By developing a novel screening approach and utilizing a public P. aeruginosa transposon insertion library, several biofilm-relevant genes were identified. The Pf phage gene (PA0720) and flagellin gene (fliC) conferred biofilm-specific tolerance to gentamicin. Compared with the reference biofilms, the biofilms formed by PA0720 and fliC mutants were completely eliminated with a 4-fold-lower gentamicin concentration. Furthermore, the mreC, pprB, coxC, and PA3785 genes were demonstrated to play major roles in enhancing biofilm tolerance to gentamicin. The analysis of biofilm-relevant genes performed in this study provides important novel insights into the understanding of P. aeruginosa antibiotic tolerance, which will facilitate the detection of antibiotic resistance and the development of antibiofilm strategies against P. aeruginosa. IMPORTANCE Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen of high medical importance and is one of the main pathogens responsible for the mortality of patients with cystic fibrosis. In addition to inherited antibiotic resistance, P. aeruginosa can form biofilms, defined as communities of microorganisms embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances adhering to each other and/or to a surface. Biofilms protect bacteria from antibiotic treatments and represent a major reason for antibiotic failure in the treatment of chronic infections caused by cystic fibrosis. Therefore, it is crucial to develop new therapeutic strategies aimed at specifically eradicating biofilms. The aim of this study was to generalize a novel screening method for biofilm research and to identify the possible genes involved in P. aeruginosa biofilm tolerance to antibiotics, both of which could improve the understanding of biofilm-related infections and allow for the identification of relevant therapeutic targets for drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jules D. P. Valentin
- Laboratory for Biointerfaces, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen, Department of BioMedical Engineering, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Stefanie Altenried
- Laboratory for Biointerfaces, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, St. Gallen, Switzerland
| | - Adithi R. Varadarajan
- Molecular Ecology, Agroscope and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christian H. Ahrens
- Molecular Ecology, Agroscope and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Frank Schreiber
- Division of Biodeterioration and Reference Organisms (4.1), Department of Materials and the Environment, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany
| | - Jeremy S. Webb
- Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
- National Biofilms Innovation Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Henny C. van der Mei
- University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen, Department of BioMedical Engineering, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Qun Ren
- Laboratory for Biointerfaces, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, St. Gallen, Switzerland
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