Title: From models to mechanisms: understanding Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence
Topic: Population-based genomics and systems biology studies have advanced our understanding of P. aeruginosa pathogenicity, identifying novel bacterial traits that contribute to disease progression. While mouse models are the gold standard to measure virulence, alternative systems like Galleria mellonella larvae and epithelial cell cultures offer practical advantages, though their ability to reflect mouse virulence is still being evaluated. We compared these three model systems to determine their reliability in assessing P. aeruginosa virulence. We then employed the epithelial cell model system to identify P. aeruginosa factors that contribute to strain-to-strain differences in cytotoxicity. We used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify accessory genomic elements (AGEs) associated with high levels of cytotoxicity. We are now testing some of these AGEs to determine whether they play a causal role in cytotoxicity. Our ultimate goal is to use high-throughput infection models to uncover specific genes and alleles that allow some P. aeruginosa strains to cause more severe infections than others.
Speaker: Aliki Valdes, Driscoll Graduate Program, Lab of Alan Hauser, PhD
Host: Alan Hauser, MD, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Microbiology-Immunology