The pathogenicity of rough strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for Galleria mellonella

1975 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 2084-2088 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. B. Kropinski ◽  
J. S. Chadwick
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Galleria Mellonella ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Colonial Morphology ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Wax Moth

Rough mutants of two strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been isolated by selection for resistance to virulent lipopolysaccharide- specific phages. The rough mutants fell into two classes on the basis of colonial morphology and agglutination by acriflavine and NaCl. The pigment and exoenzyme-synthesizing properties of these derivatives were identical with those of the parental cultures. The rough strains were 8- to 62-fold less pathogenic for the larvae of the wax moth (Galleria mellonella) than the smooth wild-type cells.

scholarly journals Use of the Galleria mellonella Caterpillar as a Model Host To Study the Role of the Type III Secretion System in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pathogenesis

2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 2404-2413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachiko Miyata ◽  
Monika Casey ◽  
Dara W. Frank ◽  
Frederick M. Ausubel ◽  
Eliana Drenkard
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Type Iii Secretion ◽  
Galleria Mellonella ◽  
Type Iii Secretion System ◽  
Secretion System ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Triple Mutant ◽  
Type Iii ◽  
Wax Moth

ABSTRACT Nonvertebrate model hosts represent valuable tools for the study of host-pathogen interactions because they facilitate the identification of bacterial virulence factors and allow the discovery of novel components involved in host innate immune responses. In this report, we determined that the greater wax moth caterpillar Galleria mellonella is a convenient nonmammalian model host for study of the role of the type III secretion system (TTSS) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis. Based on the observation that a mutation in the TTSS pscD gene of P. aeruginosa strain PA14 resulted in a highly attenuated virulence phenotype in G. mellonella, we examined the roles of the four known effector proteins of P. aeruginosa (ExoS, ExoT, ExoU, and ExoY) in wax moth killing. We determined that in P. aeruginosa strain PA14, only ExoT and ExoU play a significant role in G. mellonella killing. Strain PA14 lacks the coding sequence for the ExoS effector protein and does not seem to express ExoY. Moreover, using ΔexoU ΔexoY, ΔexoT ΔexoY, and ΔexoT ΔexoU double mutants, we determined that individual translocation of either ExoT or ExoU is sufficient to obtain nearly wild-type levels of G. mellonella killing. On the other hand, data obtained with a ΔexoT ΔexoU ΔexoY triple mutant and a ΔpscD mutant suggested that additional, as-yet-unidentified P. aeruginosa components of type III secretion are involved in virulence in G. mellonella. A high level of correlation between the results obtained in the G. mellonella model and the results of cytopathology assays performed with a mammalian tissue culture system validated the use of G. mellonella for the study of the P. aeruginosa TTSS.

The extraction and analysis of lipopolysaccharides from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO, and three rough mutants

1979 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Kropinski ◽  
L. C. Chan ◽  
F. H. Milazzo
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Chemical Analysis ◽  
Type Strain ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Side Chains ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Chromatographic Resolution ◽  
Selection For

Three spontaneously arising rough mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been isolated by selection for resistance to virulent lipopolysaccharide (LPS) specific bacteriophages. In addition, the first phages specific for rough mutants of P. aeruginosa were isolated. Using these phage and autoagglutination patterns in 4% NaCl and acriflavine, these mutants could be clearly distinguished from the wild-type strain and each other. Chemical analysis of the LPS together with chromatographic resolution of the polysaccharide moieties showed alterations in both O-specific side chains and core regions.

scholarly journals Differential Roles of the Pseudomonas aeruginosaPA14 rpoN Gene in Pathogenicity in Plants, Nematodes, Insects, and Mice

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (24) ◽  
pp. 7126-7134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik L. Hendrickson ◽  
Joulia Plotnikova ◽  
Shalina Mahajan-Miklos ◽  
Laurence G. Rahme ◽  
Frederick M. Ausubel
Keyword(s):  
Galleria Mellonella ◽  
Mesophyll Cell ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Disease Symptoms ◽  
Infectivity Assay ◽  
Greater Wax Moth ◽  
Injury Model ◽  
Similar Disease ◽  
Wax Moth

ABSTRACT We cloned the rpoN (ntrA, glnF) gene encoding the alternate sigma factor ς54 from the opportunistic multihost pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosastrain PA14. A marker exchange protocol was used to construct the PA14rpoN insertional mutationrpoN::Genr. PA14rpoN::Genr synthesized reduced levels of pyocyanin and displayed a variety of phenotypes typical of rpoN mutants, including a lack of motility and the failure to grow on nitrate, glutamate, or histidine as the sole nitrogen source. Compared to wild-type PA14,rpoN::Genr was ca. 100-fold less virulent in a mouse thermal injury model and was significantly impaired in its ability to kill the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf infectivity assay, althoughrpoN::Genr exhibited significantly reduced attachment to trichomes, stomata, and the epidermal cell surface, did not attach perpendicularly to or perforate mesophyll cell walls, and proliferated less rapidly in Arabidopsisleaves, it nevertheless elicited similar disease symptoms to wild-typeP. aeruginosa PA14 at later stages of infection.rpoN::Genr was not impaired in virulence in a Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) pathogenicity model. These data indicate that rpoN does not regulate the expression of any genes that encode virulence factors universally required for P. aeruginosa pathogenicity in diverse hosts.

scholarly journals High relatedness selects against hypermutability in bacterial metapopulations

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1615) ◽  
pp. 1341-1347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freya Harrison ◽  
Angus Buckling
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Kin Selection ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Dense Population ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Pathogen Virulence ◽  
Potential Disadvantage ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

Mutation rate and cooperation have important ecological and evolutionary consequences and, moreover, can affect pathogen virulence. While hypermutability accelerates adaptation to novel environments, hypermutable lineages (‘mutators’) are selected against in well-adapted populations. Using the model organism Pseudomonas aeruginosa , we previously demonstrated a further potential disadvantage to hypermutability, namely, that it can accelerate the breakdown of cooperation. We now investigate how this property of mutators can affect their persistence in metapopulations. Mutator and wild-type bacteria were competed for 250 generations in globally competing metapopulations, imposing conditions of high or low intra-deme relatedness. High relatedness favours cooperating groups, so we predicted that mutators should achieve lower equilibrium frequencies under high relatedness than under low relatedness. This was observed in our study. Consistent with our hypothesis, there was a positive correlation between mean mutator and cheat frequencies. We conclude that when dense population growth requires cooperation, and when cooperation is favoured (high relatedness), demes containing high frequencies of mutators are likely to be selected against because they also contain high frequencies of non-cooperating cheats. We have also identified conditions where mutator lineages are likely to dominate metapopulations; namely, when low relatedness reduces kin selection for cooperation. These results may help to explain clinical distributions of mutator bacteria.

scholarly journals Reduced entomopathogen abundance in Myrmica ant nests—testing a possible immunological benefit of myrmecophily using Galleria mellonella as a model

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 150474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sämi Schär ◽  
Louise L. M. Larsen ◽  
Nicolai V. Meyling ◽  
David R. Nash
Keyword(s):  
Galleria Mellonella ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Social Immunity ◽  
Isaria Fumosorosea ◽  
Beauveria Brongniartii ◽  
Ant Nests ◽  
Surrounding Environment ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Defence Strategies ◽  
Wax Moth

Social insects such as ants have evolved collective rather than individual immune defence strategies against diseases and parasites at the level of their societies (colonies), known as social immunity. Ants frequently host other arthropods, so-called myrmecophiles, in their nests. Here, we tested the hypothesis that myrmecophily may partly arise from selection for exploiting the ants’ social immunity. We used larvae of the wax moth Galleria mellonella as ‘model myrmecophiles’ (baits) to test this hypothesis. We found significantly reduced abundance of entomopathogens in ant nests compared with the surrounding environment. Specific entomopathogen groups ( Isaria fumosorosea and nematodes) were also found to be significantly less abundant inside than outside ant nests, whereas one entomopathogen ( Beauveria brongniartii ) was significantly more abundant inside nests. We therefore hypothesize that immunological benefits of entering ant nests may provide us a new explanation of why natural selection acts in favour of such a life-history strategy.

scholarly journals Establishing an invertebrate Galleria mellonella greater wax moth larval model of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection

Virulence ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1900-1920
Author(s):  
Aiste Dijokaite ◽  
Maria Victoria Humbert ◽  
Emma Borkowski ◽  
Roberto M La Ragione ◽  
Myron Christodoulides
Keyword(s):  
Neisseria Gonorrhoeae ◽  
Galleria Mellonella ◽  
Greater Wax Moth ◽  
Wax Moth
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