This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ASM journals Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bayer, A S Articles by Speert, D P Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bayer, A S Articles by Speert, D P

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infect Immun. 1990 May; 58(5): 1344-1349

Oxygen-dependent up-regulation of mucoid exopolysaccharide (alginate) production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

A S Bayer, F Eftekhar, J Tu, C C Nast and D P Speert

Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance 90509.

ABSTRACT

We previously showed substantial differences in Pseudomonas aeruginosa exopolysaccharide production in vitro at oxygen tensions reflective of the right versus left cardiac circuits in vivo (40 versus 80 mm Hg, respectively; A. S. Bayer, T. O'Brien, D. C. Norman, and C. C. Nast, J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 23:21-35, 1989). However, those studies did not specifically confirm this exopolysaccharide to be the characteristic P. aeruginosa mucoid alginate seen in patients with cystic fibrosis. With a murine monoclonal antibody prepared against P. aeruginosa alginate, strongly positive immunofluorescence (IF) staining of a nonmucoid P. aeruginosa strain (PA-96) was seen after its exposure in vitro to oxygen tensions (pO2) of approximately 80 mm Hg; the intensity of the IF staining under these conditions was similar to that observed with a phenotypically mucoid P. aeruginosa strain (C1712M) from a cystic fibrosis patient. In contrast, the same nonmucoid strain (PA-96), after exposure to pO2 of approximately 40 mm Hg, showed little IF staining for alginate. Following enzyme treatment with alginase, PA-96 cells previously exposed to the higher pO2 and exhibiting enhanced alginate production, as determined by IF staining, now showed no IF staining. Moreover, treatment of the oxygen-up-regulated PA-96 cells with alginase released amounts of unsaturated alginate breakdown products (uronic acids) quantitatively similar to those released by typically mucoid strains treated with the same enzyme. These data indicated that the P. aeruginosa exopolysaccharide in our studies was, indeed, mucoid alginate and that variations in oxygen tensions represent one of the trigger mechanisms for the up-regulation of mucoid exopolysaccharide production.

---

Infect Immun. 1990 May; 58(5): 1344-1349

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Ciofu, O., Lee, B., Johannesson, M., Hermansen, N. O., Meyer, P., Hoiby, N., the Scandinavian Cystic Fibrosis Study Consortium, (2008). Investigation of the algT operon sequence in mucoid and non-mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from 115 Scandinavian patients with cystic fibrosis and in 88 in vitro non-mucoid revertants. Microbiology 154: 103-113 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ahimou, F., Semmens, M. J., Haugstad, G., Novak, P. J. (2007). Effect of Protein, Polysaccharide, and Oxygen Concentration Profiles on Biofilm Cohesiveness. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2905-2910 [Abstract] [Full Text]