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Rhamnolipid production: effect of oxidative stress on virulence factors and proteome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA1

  • Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics
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Abstract

Under specific environmental conditions, Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces a biodegradable surfactant rhamnolipid. Evidences suggest that this biosurfactant is involved in protecting cells against oxidative stress; however, the effects of oxidative stress on its production and other virulence factors are still unclear. Here we show that rhamnolipid production is dependent on the aeration surface when P. aeruginosa is cultured in shaken flasks, as well as in production of elastases and alkaline proteases. The production of alginate, lipase, and pyocyanin was not detected in our shaken-flask experiments. P. aeruginosa was treated with hydrogen peroxide to trigger its oxidative stress response, and the proteome profile was analyzed. We identified 14 proteins that were expressed differently between samples that were treated and not treated with peroxide; these proteins are potentially involved in the rhamnolipid production/secretion pathway and oxidative stress.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Cenpes/ Petrobras, the Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) and IOC /PDTIS–Fiocruz for the financial support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 21941909, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Graziela Jardim Pacheco, Rodrigo Siqueira Reis, Ana Carolina Loureiro Brito Fernandes, Surza Lucia Gonçalves da Rocha, Marcos Dias Pereira & Denise Maria Guimarães Freire

  2. Laboratory of Toxinology, IOC, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 21040900, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Graziela Jardim Pacheco, Rodrigo Siqueira Reis, Surza Lucia Gonçalves da Rocha & Jonas Perales

  3. School of Molecular Biosciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia

    Rodrigo Siqueira Reis

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  1. Graziela Jardim Pacheco
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  3. Ana Carolina Loureiro Brito Fernandes
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Correspondence to Graziela Jardim Pacheco or Denise Maria Guimarães Freire.

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Authors Graziela Jardim Pacheco and Rodrigo Siqueira Reis contributed equally to this work.

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Pacheco, G.J., Reis, R.S., Fernandes, A.C.L.B. et al. Rhamnolipid production: effect of oxidative stress on virulence factors and proteome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA1. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 95, 1519–1529 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4258-y

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