Role of Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Evolution of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Virulence

Abstract

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes serious infections in immunocompromised patients and individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). It is one of the most versatile organisms as illustrated by its ability to occupy a wide range of environmental niches. Comparative genomic analysis suggests that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) plays a significant role in determining the genetic repertoire of each strain. Genomic diversity is, in part, due to the acquisition of genetic material that has integrated into the chromosome at a relatively limited number of sites. The resulting genomic islands (GIs) contain genes specifying virulence traits as well as genes that may enhance fitness in a specific environmental niche. Several islands are integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) that may have evolved from ancestral self-transmissible conjugative plasmids. For some genomic islands, the mechanism of acquisition is not apparent suggesting that the mechanisms utlized are either transformation or bacteriophage-mediated generalized transduction. It appears that HGT takes place primarily in the natural environment of P. aeruginosa and, conceivably, an uncharacterized host-pathogen interaction provides the selective pressures for acquisition and maintenance of the observed virulence phenotypes.