Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Why it Matters?
Recently, a team of researchers has reported that a gene in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa shows bistable expression.
What You Should Know?
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic bacterium.
It belongs to the family Pseudomonadaceae.
It is found in soil, water, plants, and hospital environments and can survive in harsh conditions.
It is an opportunistic pathogen that mainly affects immunocompromised individuals.
It commonly causes pneumonia (especially in cystic fibrosis patients), urinary tract infections (UTIs), wound and burn infections, and septicemia in hospitalized patients.
It is notoriously multi-drug resistant (MDR) and shows intrinsic resistance to many antibiotics.
It is diagnosed by culture on cetrimide agar, is oxidase positive, and produces a grape-like odor.
Bistable Expression in Bacteria
Two bacterial cells with identical genomes and even from the same colony can be quite different from each other.
One cell might express a particular gene at a high level while the other might express it at a low level or not at all.