Mucoid-to-nonmucoid conversion in alginate-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa often results from spontaneous mutations in algT, encoding a putative alternate sigma factor, and shows evidence for autoregulation.

Abstract excerpt

The mucoid phenotype is common among strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that cause chronic pulmonary infections in patients with cystic fibrosis and is due to overproduction of an exopolysaccharide called alginate. However, the mucoid phenotype is unstable in vitro, especially when the cells are i...

Topics

• Alginates
• Amino Acid Sequence
• Bacterial Proteins
• Base Sequence
• Chromosome Mapping
• Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Morphogenesis
• Mutagenesis
• Phenotype
• Promoter Regions, Genetic
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Recombination, Genetic