| Title |
Heterogeneous Virulence Potential and High Antibiotic Resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains Isolated from Korean Pneumonia Patients |
| Author |
Mi Young Yoon1, Kang-Mu Lee1, Seok Hoon Jeong2,3, Jungmin Kim4, and Sang Sun Yoon1,3,5* |
| Address |
1Department of Microbiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Republic of Korea, 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Republic of Korea, 3Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Republic of Korea, 4Department of Microbiology, Kyungpook National University, School of Medicine, Daegu 700-422, Republic of Korea, 5Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Sciences, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Republic of Korea |
| Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 48(4),518-525, 2010,
|
| DOI |
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| Key Words |
P. aeruginosa, virulence, pneumonia, biofilm, quorum sensing |
| Abstract |
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen of clinical importance that causes airway infections in immunocompromised patients. Here, we report the virulence-associated characteristics of strains of P. aeruginosa, isolated from the sputa of 25 Korean pneumonia patients. A high degree of genomic plasticity was observed by random amplified polymorphic DNA genotype analysis, suggesting that the infections were caused by strains with diverse genomic backgrounds. Biofilm formation of each isolate was heterogeneous in terms of their relative motilities. In addition, 48% of isolates were defective in the production of 3-oxo-C12-HSL (PAI-1), a quorum sensing signal molecule. In these strains, PAI-1-dependent elastase production was correspondingly decreased, suggesting that a large number of strains were presumed to be quorum sensing deficient. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was seen in 56% of the isolates tested, and 44% of the MDR strains were resistant to five or more antibiotics. Taken together, our results provide additional insights into the virulence traits of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates, which will aid in treating P. aeruginosa infections in pneumonia patients. |
