title: The presence of quorum-sensing genes in Pseudomonas isolates infecting cystic fibrosis and non-cystic fibrosis patients.
abstract: Ninety-one Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates recovered from cystic fibrosis and non-cystic fibrosis patients were evaluated regarding the ability to form biofilm and acyl-homoserine lactones production and for the presence of five quorum-sensing (QS) regulatory genes (lasI, lasR, rhlI, rhlR, and vfr). Most isolates (90.1 %) presented all five QS genes. Five isolates shown to be lasI/lasR-deficient were not able to produce biofilm in vitro. Moreover, one isolate harboring all five QS genes was also not able to form a biofilm. The function of rhlR gene may be compensated by the las QS system. However, in our study, all isolates which were deficient for the rhlR gene were also deficient for the lasI/lasR system. This may point to some hierarchy in QS regulation which may pose a potential for controlling biofilm infections due to P. aeruginosa.
authors.affiliation: Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Avenida Ipiranga, 2752, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, 90610-000, Brazil. leandro.reus@gmail.com
authors.forename: Leandro Reus Rodrigues
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Alice Beatriz Mombach Pinheiro
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Afonso Luís
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Barth
mesh_terms: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones / Q000378:metabolism; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D053038:Quorum Sensing
chemical_list: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones