ArticlePLoS genetics2020
Elevated exopolysaccharide levels in Pseudomonas aeruginosa flagellar mutants have implications for biofilm growth and chronic infections.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
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- A biofilm-tropiceLife · 2025Article
- Genetic analysis of flagellar-mediated surface sensing byJournal of bacteriology · 2025Article
- Flagellum-driven motility enhancesApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Secreted retropepsin-like enzymes are essential for stress tolerance and biofilm formation inmBio · 2025Article
- Flagellar motility and the mucus environment influence aggregation-mediated antibiotic tolerance ofmBio · 2025Article
- Efficient Photolysis of Multidrug-Resistant Polymicrobial Biofilms.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa faces a fitness trade-off between mucosal colonization and antibiotic tolerance during airway infection.Nature microbiology · 2024Article
- Flagellum-deficientMicrobiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Coacervate Dense Phase Displaces Surface-EstablishedJournal of the American Chemical Society · 2024Article
- The surface interface and swimming motility influence surface-sensing responses inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Role of extracellular matrix components in biofilm formation and adaptation ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Biofilm formation: mechanistic insights and therapeutic targets.Molecular biomedicine · 2023Review
- A genetic switch controls Pseudomonas aeruginosa surface colonization.Nature microbiology · 2023Article
- Genetic and environmental determinants of surface adaptations inMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonizes the airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, causing infections that can last for decades. During the course of these infections, P. aeruginosa undergoes a number of genetic adaptations. One such adaptation is the loss of swimming motility functions. Another involves the formation of the rugose small colony variant (RSCV) phenotype, which is characterized by overproduction of the exopolysaccharides Pel and Psl. Here, we provide evidence that the two adaptations are linked. Using random transposon mutagenesis, we discovered that flagellar mutations are linked to the RSCV phenotype. We found that flagellar mutants overexpressed Pel and Psl in a surface-contact dependent manner. Genetic analyses revealed that flagellar mutants were selected for at high frequencies in biofilms, and that Pel and Psl expression provided the primary fitness benefit in this environment. Suppressor mutagenesis of flagellar RSCVs indicated that Psl overexpression required the mot genes, suggesting that the flagellum stator proteins function in a surface-dependent regulatory pathway for exopolysaccharide biosynthesis. Finally, we identified flagellar mutant RSCVs among CF isolates. The CF environment has long been known to select for flagellar mutants, with the classic interpretation being that the fitness benefit gained relates to an impairment of the host immune system to target a bacterium lacking a flagellum. Our new findings lead us to propose that exopolysaccharide production is a key gain-of-function phenotype that offers a new way to interpret the fitness benefits of these mutations.
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Registered trials
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