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Isolation and characterization of serum-resistant strains ofPseudomonas aeruginosa derived from serum-sensitive parental strains

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Abstract

Six serum-resistant (serR) mutantPseudomonas aeruginosa strains were isolated from six serum-sensitive (serS) parental strains by subculturing the sensitive strains in increasing concentrations of normal pooled fresh human serum (FHS). Although the colonial type of the mutant was similar to that of the parental strains, each of the serR mutants had an altered serotype when compared to its parental counterpart. Three mutant strains and their corresponding parental strains were chosen for further examination. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) preparations from the serR strains were found to be heterogeneous, containing LPS with varying degrees of O-side-chain substitution, whereas the LPS of the serS strains contained primarily lipid A-core polysaccharide components. Although two of the serR mutant strains had an outer membrane protein (OMP) profile analogous to their serS parental counterparts, one serR strain differed from its parental strain by the absence of a 32,000 dalton major OMP. These studies suggest that the susceptibility ofP. aeruginosa to the bactericidal activity of FHS may be related to either or both LPS structure or OMP content.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biomedical Sciences and Department of Biology, University of California-Riverside, 92521-0121, Riverside, California, USA

    Neal L. Schiller, David R. Hackley & Amy Morrison

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  1. Neal L. Schiller
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  2. David R. Hackley
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  3. Amy Morrison
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Schiller, N.L., Hackley, D.R. & Morrison, A. Isolation and characterization of serum-resistant strains ofPseudomonas aeruginosa derived from serum-sensitive parental strains. Current Microbiology 10, 185–189 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01627252

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