The evolution of virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa during chronic wound infection
Data files
Aug 12, 2020 version files 1.34 MB
Aug 31, 2020 version files 1.28 MB
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Dryad_Raw_Data.xlsx
1.28 MB
Sep 17, 2020 version files 5.14 MB
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A88_lasR_F.ab1
277.62 KB
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A88_pvcA_F.ab1
274.08 KB
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B31_lasR_F.ab1
272.81 KB
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B31_pvcA_F.ab1
273.66 KB
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B42_lasR_F.ab1
275.86 KB
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B42_pvcA_F.ab1
274.51 KB
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B42_rpoN_F.ab1
283.30 KB
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C31_lasR_F.ab1
277.25 KB
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C31_pvcA_F.ab1
275.24 KB
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C62_pilR_R.ab1
266.19 KB
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Dryad_Raw_Data.xlsx
1.28 MB
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WT_lasR_F.ab1
276.26 KB
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WT_pilR_F.ab1
273.17 KB
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WT_pvcA_F.ab1
278.19 KB
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WT_rpoN_F.ab1
283.42 KB
Abstract
Opportunistic pathogens are associated with a number of chronic human infections, yet the evolution of virulence in these organisms during chronic infection remains poorly understood. Here, we tested the evolution of virulence in the human opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a murine chronic wound model using a two-part serial passage and sepsis experiment, and found that virulence evolved in different directions in each line of evolution. We also assessed P. aeruginosa adaptation to a chronic wound after 42 days of evolution and found that morphological diversity in our evolved populations was limited compared to that previously described in cystic fibrosis (CF) infections. Using whole-genome sequencing, we found that genes previously implicated in P. aeruginosa pathogenesis (lasR, pilR, fleQ, rpoN and pvcA), contained mutations during the course of evolution in wounds, with selection occurring in parallel across all lines of evolution. Our findings highlight that (i) P. aeruginosa heterogeneity may be less extensive in chronic wounds than in CF lungs; (ii) genes involved in P. aeruginosa pathogenesis acquire mutations during chronic wound infection; (iii) similar genetic adaptations are employed by P. aeruginosa across multiple infection environments and (iv) current models of virulence may not adequately explain the diverging evolutionary trajectories observed in an opportunistic pathogen during chronic wound infection.