The Effect of Natural and Petroleum Based Materials on the Growth Rate and Antibiotic Sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract

Most of bacteria spend their entire lives buffeted by changing environmental conditions, depending on the surrounding circumstances, to adapt and survive these changeable conditions. Bacteria have global response systems that result in sweeping changes in gene expression and cellular metabolism. In this study, caffeine, nicotine, and petroleum based materials were used as stress factors to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to evaluate their potential ability to induce growth rate and antibiotic resistance mutations. Bacterial cells exposed to diesel showed significant increase in growth rate, compared to the cells that exposed to the other materials. The exposure to high concentration of caffeine surprisingly tern the bacteria to become fully resistant to all tested antibiotics. Our data suggest the ability of our daily used materials to induce growth rate and antibiotic resistance mutations.