Mutation, biofilm growth and phenotypic characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis

• Grant number: 14/19310-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Ana Lúcia da Costa Darini
• Grantee: Natália Candido Caçador
• Supervisor: Niels Høiby
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/13358-0 - Classical and molecular epidemiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from patients with Cystic Fibrosis, BP.DD

Abstract

During chronic lung infection of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), Pseudomonas aeruginosa can survive for long periods of time under selective pressure imposed by antibiotic treatment and the patient's immune system as a result of its biofilm mode of growth and adaptive evolution mediated by genetic variation. Mucoidy, hypermutability and acquirement of mutational antibiotic resistance are important adaptive phenotypes that are selected during chronic P. aeruginosa infection. Within this context, the aim of this project is to analyze the phenotypic characteristics and presence of strains of P. aeruginosa with mutator phenotype isolated from CF patients with intermittent/chronic infection attended in a public university hospital in Brazil. For this purpose, we will investigate the metabolic profiles, the ability to form biofilm, the occurrence of P. aeruginosa mutator subpopulations and evaluate the association between mutability and mucoidy and loss of quorum sensing. It is expected that the results of this project will contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of the bacteria in the patients and the most frequent adaptations, providing knowledge that will be useful in management of patients. (AU)