A metabolic trade-off between phosphate and glucose utilization in Escherichia coli.

Getting the most out of available nutrients is a key challenge that all organisms face. Little is known about how they optimize and balance the simultaneous utilization of multiple elemental resources. We investigated the effects of long-term phosphate limitation on carbon metabolism of the model organism Escherichia coli using chemostat cultures.

The mucoid switch in Pseudomonas aeruginosa represses quorum sensing systems and leads to complex changes to stationary phase virulence factor regulation.

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronically infects the airways of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients during which it adapts and undergoes clonal expansion within the lung. It commonly acquires inactivating mutations of the anti-sigma factor MucA leading to a mucoid phenotype, caused by excessive production of the extracellular polysaccharide alginate that is associated with a decline in lung function. Alginate production is believed to be the key benefit of mucA mutations to the bacterium in the CF lung.

Cyanide measurements in bacterial culture and sputum.

Cyanide is produced by a few bacterial species, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and it has a role in the opportunistic infections of this bacterium including in cystic fibrosis lung infections. We describe two methods for determining cyanide in culture and patient sputum samples. One uses an ion-selective electrode to provide a convenient, rapid method of cyanide quantitation in culture or sputum, and the second is a semiquantitative method using Feigl-Anger paper that is useful for screening large numbers of bacterial strains for cyanide production.

The nature of laboratory domestication changes in freshly isolated Escherichia coli strains.

Adaptation of environmental bacteria to laboratory conditions can lead to modification of important traits, what we term domestication. Little is known about the rapidity and reproducibility of domestication changes, the uniformity of these changes within a species or how diverse these are in a single culture. Here, we analysed phenotypic changes in nutrient-rich liquid media or on agar of four Escherichia coli strains newly isolated through minimal steps from different sources.

The identification of global patterns and unique signatures of proteins across 14 environments using outer membrane proteomics of bacteria.

We test the hypothesis that organisms sourced from different environments exhibit unique fingerprints in macromolecular composition. Experimentally, we followed proteomic changes with 14 different sub-lethal environmental stimuli in Escherichia coli at controlled growth rates. The focus was on the outer membrane sub-proteome, which is known to be extremely sensitive to environmental controls.

Culture history and population heterogeneity as determinants of bacterial adaptation: the adaptomics of a single environmental transition.

Diversity in adaptive responses is common within species and populations, especially when the heterogeneity of the frequently large populations found in environments is considered. By focusing on events in a single clonal population undergoing a single transition, we discuss how environmental cues and changes in growth rate initiate a multiplicity of adaptive pathways. Adaptation is a comprehensive process, and stochastic, regulatory, epigenetic, and mutational changes can contribute to fitness and overlap in timing and frequency.

Metabolic profiling of Pseudomonas aeruginosa demonstrates that the anti-sigma factor MucA modulates osmotic stress tolerance.

Metabolic footprinting has shown enormous potential as a phenotyping tool and we are interested in applying it to understand the physiology of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa during its chronic infection of the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. The selection pressures of surviving in the CF lung environment lead to genetic adaptations of the bacterium. A common adaptation is mutation of the mucA gene, resulting in a loss-of-function mutation to the anti-sigma factor MucA, which leads to a mucoid phenotype as a consequence of the overproduction of the extracellular polysaccharide alginate.

Hypertonic Saline Therapy in Cystic Fibrosis: Do Population Shifts Caused by the Osmotic Sensitivity of Infecting Bacteria Explain the Effectiveness of this Treatment?

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by a defect in the CF transmembrane regulator that leads to depletion and dehydration of the airway surface liquid (ASL) of the lung epithelium, providing an environment that can be infected by bacteria leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronically infects more than 80% of CF patients and one hallmark of infection is the emergence of a mucoid phenotype associated with a worsening prognosis and more rapid decline in lung function. Hypertonic saline (HS) is a clinically proven treatment that improves mucociliary clearance through partial rehydration of the ASL of the lung.

Bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex are cyanogenic under biofilm and colonial growth conditions.

Background: The Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) is a collection of nine genotypically distinct but phenotypically similar species. They show wide ecological diversity and include species that are used for promoting plant growth and bio-control as well species that are opportunistic pathogens of vulnerable patients. Over recent years the Bcc have emerged as problematic pathogens of the CF lung.

Oxygen, cyanide and energy generation in the cystic fibrosis pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that belongs to the gamma-proteobacteria. This clinically challenging, opportunistic pathogen occupies a wide range of niches from an almost ubiquitous environmental presence to causing infections in a wide range of animals and plants. P.