title: Analysis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa oprD gene from clinical and environmental isolates.
abstract: Genomes are constantly evolving. Our report highlights the wide mutational diversity of clinical as well as environmental isolates, compared with the laboratory strain(s), through the systematic genetic analysis of a chromosomal porin gene (oprD) in relation to a specific antibiotic resistance. Mutational inactivation of the oprD gene is associated with carbapenem resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The sequence of the oprD gene of 55 Pseudomonas aeruginosa natural isolates obtained from across the world--from sources as diverse as patients and rhizospheres--was analysed. A microscale mosaic structure for this gene--resulting from multiple intra- and possibly interspecies recombinational events--is reported. An array of independent and seemingly fast-occurring defective oprD mutations were found, none of which had been described before. A burn wound isolate demonstrated unusually high overall sequence variability typical of mutator strains. We also present evidence for the existence of OprD homologues in other fluorescent pseudomonads.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial Interactions, Department of Immunology, Parasitology, and Ultrastructure, Flanders Interuniversity Institute of Biotechnology, Brussels Free University, B-1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Pirnay
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Vos
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mossialos
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vanderkelen
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cornelis
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zizi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015780:Carbapenems / Q000494:pharmacology; D018388:Codon, Terminator; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018272:Porins / Q000235:genetics*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D015780:Carbapenems; D018388:Codon, Terminator; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D018272:Porins; C077157:OprD protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa