Copper selects for siderophore-mediated virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

BMC Microbiology

Research

Elze Hesse¹  Angus Buckling¹  Luke Lear²  Michiel Vos² 

[1] College of Life and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, TR10 9FE, Penryn, Cornwall, UK;European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, TR10 9FE, Penryn, Cornwall, UK;

关键词: Evolution of virulence;    Opportunistic pathogen;    Metal detoxification;    Pyoverdine;    Coincidental selection;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12866-022-02720-w

 received in 2022-07-07, accepted in 2022-09-30,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIron is essential for almost all bacterial pathogens and consequently it is actively withheld by their hosts. However, the production of extracellular siderophores enables iron sequestration by pathogens, increasing their virulence. Another function of siderophores is extracellular detoxification of non-ferrous metals. Here, we experimentally link the detoxification and virulence roles of siderophores by testing whether the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays greater virulence after exposure to copper. To do this, we incubated P. aeruginosa under different environmentally relevant copper regimes for either two or twelve days. Subsequent growth in a copper-free environment removed phenotypic effects, before we quantified pyoverdine production (the primary siderophore produced by P. aeruginosa), and virulence using the Galleria mellonella infection model.ResultsCopper selected for increased pyoverdine production, which was positively correlated with virulence. This effect increased with time, such that populations incubated with high copper for twelve days were the most virulent. Replication of the experiment with a non-pyoverdine producing strain of P. aeruginosa demonstrated that pyoverdine production was largely responsible for the change in virulence.ConclusionsWe here show a direct link between metal stress and bacterial virulence, highlighting another dimension of the detrimental effects of metal pollution on human health.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

Fig. 8

Fig. 2

Fig. 1

Fig. 4

Fig. 1