title: Stenotrophomonas maltophiliaPhenotypic and Genotypic Diversity during a 10-year Colonization in the Lungs of a Cystic Fibrosis Patient.
abstract: The present study was carried out to understand the adaptive strategies developed byStenotrophomonas maltophiliafor chronic colonization of the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung. For this purpose, 13 temporally isolated strains from a single CF patient chronically infected over a 10-year period were systematically characterized for growth rate, biofilm formation, motility, mutation frequencies, antibiotic resistance, and pathogenicity. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) showed over time the presence of two distinct groups, each consisting of two different pulsotypes. The pattern of evolution followed byS. maltophiliawas dependent on pulsotype considered, with strains belonging to pulsotype 1.1 resulting to be the most adapted, being significantly changed in all traits considered. Generally,S. maltophiliaadaptation to CF lung leads to increased growth rate and antibiotic resistance, whereas bothin vivoandin vitropathogenicity as well as biofilm formation were decreased. Overall, our results show for the first time thatS. maltophiliacan successfully adapt to a highly stressful environment such as CF lung by paying a "biological cost," as suggested by the presence of relevant genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity within bacterial population.S. maltophiliapopulations are, therefore, significantly complex and dynamic being able to fluctuate rapidly under changing selective pressures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral, and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-PescaraChieti, Italy; Center of Excellence on Aging and Translational Medicine (CeSI-MeT), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-PescaraChieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pompilio
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral, and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-PescaraChieti, Italy; Center of Excellence on Aging and Translational Medicine (CeSI-MeT), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-PescaraChieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Crocetta
authors.affiliation: Special Center for Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Dipankar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Special Center for Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Malabika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gherardi
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Unit, School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino Camerino, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca Agostino
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Vitali
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital and Research Institute "Bambino Gesù" Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ersilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fiscarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral, and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-PescaraChieti, Italy; Center of Excellence on Aging and Translational Medicine (CeSI-MeT), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-PescaraChieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Bonaventura
keywords: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia; antibiotic-resistance; biofilm; chronic infection; cystic fibrosis; lung infections; virulence