Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28173753›Full record

ArticleBMC microbiology2017

Conjugative type IVb pilus recognizes lipopolysaccharide of recipient cells to initiate PAPI-1 pathogenicity island transfer in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Toan Phuoc Hong, Michelle Q Carter, Paolo Struffi, Stefano Casonato, Youai Hao, Joseph S Lam, Stephen Lory, Olivier Jousson

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC microbiology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 38% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Structural and functional insights into Pseudomonas aeruginosa's secretion systems 1-6: regulation, role in microbial keratitis and drug targets.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Toan Phuoc HongCentre for Integrative Biology, University of Trento, 38123, Trento, Italy.
Michelle Q CarterDepartment of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Paolo StruffiCentre for Integrative Biology, University of Trento, 38123, Trento, Italy.
Stefano CasonatoCentre for Integrative Biology, University of Trento, 38123, Trento, Italy.
Youai HaoDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
Joseph S LamDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
Stephen LoryDepartment of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Olivier JoussonCentre for Integrative Biology, University of Trento, 38123, Trento, Italy. olivier.jousson@unitn.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3344-7194
University of Trento · ITHarvard University · USUniversity of Guelph · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenicity island 1 (PAPI-1) is one of the largest genomic islands of this important opportunistic human pathogen. Previous studies have shown that PAPI-1 encodes several putative virulence factors, including a major regulator of biofilm formation and antibiotic-resistance traits. PAPI-1 is horizontally transferable into recipient strains lacking this island via conjugation mediated by the specialized type IV pilus. The PAPI-1 encodes a cluster of ten genes associated with the synthesis and assembly of the type IV pilus. The PAPI-1 acquisition mechanism is currently not well understood.

resultsIn this study, we performed a series of conjugation experiments and identified determinants of PAPI-1 acquisition by analyzing transfer efficiency between the donor and a series of mutant recipient strains. Our data show that common polysaccharide antigen (CPA) lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a homopolymer of D-rhamnose, is required for initiating PAPI-1 transfer, suggesting that this structure acts as a receptor for conjugative type IV pilus in recipient strains. These results were substantiated by experimental evidence from PAPI-1 transfer assay experiments, in which outer membrane or LPS preparations from well-defined LPS mutants were added to the transfer mix to assess the role of P. aeruginosa LPS in PAPI-1 transfer and in vitro binding experiments between pilin fusion protein GST-pilV2' and immobilized LPS molecules were performed. Our data also showed that P. aeruginosa strains that had already acquired a copy of PAPI-1 were unable to import additional copies of the island, and that such strains produced proportionally lower amounts of CPA LPS compared to the strains lacking PAPI-1.

conclusionsThese results suggest that a PAPI-1 exclusion mechanism exists in P. aeruginosa that might serve to regulate the avoidance of uncontrolled expansions of the bacterial genome.

Indexed as

Gene Transfer, HorizontalBacterial ProteinsCell MembraneChromosomes, BacterialConjugation, GeneticFimbriae, BacterialGene Expression Regulation, BacterialGenome, BacterialGenomic IslandsHumansLipopolysaccharidesMultigene FamilyMutationPseudomonas aeruginosaPseudomonas InfectionsRhamnoseBacterial ProteinsLipopolysaccharidesRhamnoseVirulence FactorsHorizontal gene transferPAPI-1 pathogenicity islandPseudomonas aeruginosa

Identifiers

PMID28173753
PMCPMC5297154
OpenAlexW2586405756

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.