| Description: |
Members of the genus Pseudomonas are characterized by their ability to grow in simple media at the expense of a great variety of organic compounds. They have a strict respiratory metabolism and are motile by one or several polar flagella. They are common inhabitants of soil and water and can also be found on the surfaces of plants and animals. They are are found in nature in a biofilm or in planktonic form. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important soil bacterium, with a complex metabolism capable of degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and producing interesting, biologically active secondary metabolites including quinolones, rhamnolipids, lectins, hydrogen cyanide, and phenazines. Production of these products is likely controled by complex regulatory networks making Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptable both to free-living and pathogenic lifestyles. Human pathogenic strains usually prey on immunocompromised patients. The clinical isolate PA7, isolated in Argentina, has a particularly interesting resistance profile. This strain is highly resistant to third generation cephalosporins, monobactams and fluoroquinolones. The strain is also resistant to piperacillin, carbenicillin, levofloxacin and chloramphenicol, but sensitive to carbapenems. Preliminary sequencing of resistance-associated genes and several other genes indicate that this strain is a taxonomic outlier that differs greatly from the sequenced strains PAO1 and PA14, and practically at the limit of the definition of a species (adapted from http://msc.tigr.org/pseudomonas_aeruginosa/index.shtml). |
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