An, Barfield, Nicholson, Toney 1

Esther An, Arie Barfield, Danielle Nicholson, Serenity Toney

MCB 100, Group 56

Professor Brenda Wilson, Collin Kiefer, and Mr. Nic Handy

18 February 2022

Executive Summary of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Microbe Information:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria which belongs in the
genus Pseudomonas classification. With it being gram negative, it means one of its traits is to
resist most antibiotics. Akin to other gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
contains three layers to its structure; the cytoplasmic membrane, the peptidoglycan layer, and the
outer membrane which contains the lipopolysaccharide, protein, and phospholipid. Pseudomonas
are typically found in outdoor environments like in plants, soil, and bodies of water. Specifically,
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa typically infects humans. This bacteria likes to grow and live in
environments where being exposed to germs is the easiest. Hospitals are one of the most
common areas where this bacteria is found–considering there are diverse groups of patients that
are exposed to varieties of germs in hospital settings. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the
leading causes of hospitalization, leading patients to health conditions such as cystic fibrosis,
cancer, urinary tract infections, and pneumonia. It is common for immunocompromised people to
be affected by this more than the average healthy human would. This bacterium measures at 0.5
to 0.8 micrometers by 1.5 to 3.0 micrometers (Inglewski, 1996). Pseudomonas aeruginosa has
been found to have aerobic properties but recently in a study written by M.Schobert and P.
Tielen, it is said that Pseudomonas aeruginosa now has metabolic properties of anaerobic
bacteria. Because of the absence of oxygen during this process the bacteria can grow by breaking
down nitrate respiration with nitrogen oxides.

Benefits of Pseudomonas aeruginosa:

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an ubiquitous pathogen. Although there may be harmful
effects that occur if Pseudomonas aeruginosa penetrates through the skin and mucous
membranes, it is only an opportunistic pathogen when a patient is already debilitated. With
healthy individuals, this pathogen rarely thrives.
With that being said, Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be useful in many other ways due to
the characteristics this pathogen possesses. According to a study published by Orji Frank Anayo,
Ezeanyanso Chika Scholastica, Onyemali Chidi Peter, Ukaegbu Gray Nneji, Ajunwa Obinna,
and Lawal Oluwabusola Mistura, “other species of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have the ability to
degrade a large number of compounds that are recalcitrant to other bacterial species, thus
producing secondary metabolites and biopolymers, making these strains useful in medicine,
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industries, and environment” (Anayo et al, 2019). The byproducts that Pseudomonas aeruginosa
create during secondary metabolism are important factors for the improvement of this world.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa naturally produces compounds, through secondary metabolism,
that exhibit bacteriostatic activity which helps control multiple drug-resistant bacteria. The
compounds are secondary metabolites, which typically defend an organism from harmful factors.
Studies have shown substances with this bacteriostatic activity secreted in the secondary
metabolism of microorganisms could be applied in the management of human, animal, and plant
diseases (Anayo et al., 2019). This is how Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be beneficial in
medicine. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is able to create and secrete compounds that eliminate or
inhibit growth of harmful microorganisms.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is very beneficial in numerous industrial and commercial
sectors in the world. These include waste degradation, oil refineries, textile products, agriculture,
pulp and paper, mining, and explosive industries. They can also be used in commercial and
household drain cleaners and degreasers, septic tank additives, general cleaning products, and
odor control products (Anayo et al., 2019). Pseudomonas aeruginosa helps improve different
industries around the world.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is essential in our environment. The hopes of a clean
environment through biodegradation of xenobiotics (foriegn chemical substances) and
bioremediation of hydrocarbon-impacted ecosystems (fuels, oils, etc.) are high with the use of
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Novik et al., 2015). The reason why Pseudomonas aeruginosa has a
vital role in the biodegradation and bioremediation of toxic compounds found in soil and water is
because it utilizes pesticides as its carbon source and energy; they are capable to convert the
harmful pesticides that contaminate the environment, in the first place, into something beneficial.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is also important in the biodegradation of oil spills because it acts as a
biosurfactant. The importance of rhamnolipids, which is a common compound secreted by
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is very high because it enhances the solubility and elimination of
waste contaminants by improving oil biodegradation rates (Anayo et al., 2019). This is why
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is beneficial for our environment.

Development History of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa:

In 1882, a chemist and bacteriologist from Paris, France, Carle Gessard discovered
Pseudomonas aeruginosa through an experiment that identified this microbe by its water soluble
pigments that turned blue-green when exposed to UV light. Although direct contact with humans
can be harmful, scientists discovered that it's fluorescent quality proved to be useful. Although
there is no specific date or people specified to make this discovery, specifically, fluorescent
Pseudomonas strains have been well characterized for their biocontrol efficiency, and this
includes Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. Pseudomonads, due to their metabolic flexibility and genetic
diversity, are very common in different soil ecosystems. They are common inhabitants of the
plant rhizosphere, where they play a major role in plant growth promotion and are biocontrol
agents against soil-borne phytopathogens (Lugtenberg and Kamilova, 2009, Pathma et al., 2011,
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Jain and Pandey, 2016, Kumar et al., 2016b). That is when scientists realized these fluorescent
species are well capable of utilizing a wide variety of organic and inorganic compounds, which
gives them flexibility to live in diverse ecological niches.
Since the discovery of Pseudomonas, a large number of species have been assigned to the
genus. The first classification of Pseudomonas species was based on phenotypic characteristics.
The most significant work providing phenotypic description of this genus was performed by
Stanier et al. Strains of different species were subjected to many phenotypic tests, the most
important of which was the nutritional screening. (Stanier RY, Palleroni NJ, Doudoroff M.)
Biosurfactants, which are the surface-active compounds that find use in the cosmetic and food
production, healthcare, pulp and paper processing, coal, ceramic, and metal industries as well as
applied in cleaning of oil-contaminated tankers, oil spill removal, transportation and recovery of
crude oil, and bioremediation of contaminated sites, show advantages over chemical analogs
because of their low toxicity and biodegradable nature. Pseudomonas are able to synthesize these
compounds from cheap carbon sources such as vegetable oils and wastes from the food industry
which makes it efficient for industrial use. They are often found to produce secondary
metabolites like siderophores (organisms produced by microbes that help an organism
accumulate iron) and organic acids for better nutrient uptake/digestion (Kumar et al., 2017).
Some Pseudomonas even have the ability to degrade environmental pollutants like Nylon
byproducts from unpolymerized molecules in making textiles, or TCE (trichloroethane) in soils
and groundwater from various cleaning uses.

Questions and Rationale

1. Pseudomonas aeruginosas are commonly known to cause many diseases in plants,
animals and humans. Especially because of their gram-negative bacterial structure, they
have the ability to be more resistant to antibiotics and other treatments than gram-positive
bacteria. If the company does decide to use the P. Aeruginosas as a biological product to
help the environment and as medicine, what treatment methods are available to reverse
the effects?
a. To treat P. aeruginosas, the most efficient way to treat these bacterial microbes is
with antibiotics. Even with the antibiotics, the choices are to get a combination of
two different antibiotics or just one known as monotherapy. Most of the
antibiotics that are used to treat P. aeruginosas are readily available such as
penicillin or meropenem, which treatment can start after receiving a doctor’s note.
However, according to Medscape, there is still controversy debating whether a
combination of antibiotics are more effective compared to a monotherapy
treatment (Selina SP Chen, 2018). Whichever treatment is selected, a consultation
with a doctor to pick the right medication for each individual is still pertinent.
Nevertheless, P. aeruginosas are treatable with antibiotics which assures that there
is a contingency if they do become infectious.
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2. Earlier, your team mentioned that the Pseudomonas aeruginosas are categorized as an
opportunistic pathogen, meaning they become a harmful bacteria for the host when the
conditions allow it to cause disease. What kind of environment allows this bacteria to
thrive and become critical to the host’s health?
a. Like most opportunistic pathogens, they become very dangerous when they enter
immunosuppressed patients, due to the weakening of their ability to fight back.
Some common diseases that Pseudomonas aeruginosas produce are meningitis,
pneumonia, and can contribute to the development of patients with cystic fibrosis.
A way that Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be infected is through the eating of
vegetation that already has the bacteria growing on it. P. aeruginosa thrives in
moist areas such as soil, the human skin, public sinks, etc. According to Medical
News Today, the warmer the water or the moisture is in the area, the ability of P.
aeruginosas to multiply and grow can provide better conditions (Das Krishnashis,
Abrol Shrutica, Verma Renu, Annapragada Harika, Katiyar Nalini, M
Senthilkumar, 2018). It is extremely important for patients who have recently had
surgery or a major disease to be careful around P. aeruginosa.

3. Since we are a company that is looking to transition from using synthetic compounds to
microbes as bioreactors, we view cost-efficiency, long term sustainability, and
competition. Beside the fact that switching to organic resources is better for the
ecosystem, why are the Pseudomonas aeruginosa the most beneficial, economically
friendly, and sustainable for our company?
a. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a very beneficial decision to make regarding making
them a microbe as bioreactors. Firstly, P. aeruginosas are very beneficial in ways
the company can make use of them. According to the ScienceDirect article, the
bacteria have the ability to “nutrient solubilization, plant growth promotion,
biologic control of insect pest and plant pathogens, and degradation of certain
organic and inorganic pollutants to bioremediation of heavy metals and
pesticides” (Scott Harris, 2020). These many beneficial factors that Pseudomonas
aeruginosa possess can provide many methods to grow in industry, agriculture,
environment, ecology and medicine. Further, the company may take this
advantage to produce many sustainable methods for further successes. In turn, the
growing success of the company can allow more economical growth for further
research. The P. aeruginosas have been heavily studied in the last decade which
can be less burdensome to fund the functionality of this bacteria, but more so on
the unique aspect that this bacteria contain. All in all, this bacteria, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, acquired many advantageous factors that will not only be a
convenience for the company, but also to achieve an eco-friendlier world.
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Work Cited

Anayo, O. F., Scholastica, E. C., Peter, O. C., Nneji, U. G., Obinna, A., & Mistura, L. O. (2019).

The beneficial roles of pseudomonas in medicine, industries, and environment: A

Review. Pseudomonas Aeruginosa - An Armory Within.

https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85996

Harris, Scott. “Pseudomonas Infections: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments.” Medical News

Today, MediLexicon International, 5 July 2018,

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322386#risk-factors.

Hiroyuki Arai. “Regulation and Function of Versatile Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiratory

Metabolism in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Frontier, 05 May 2011,

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2011.00103/full#B117

Iglewski H Barbara. “Pseudomonas”, Medical Microbiology. 4th edition, 01 January 1996,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8326/

Krishnashis Das, Shrutica Abrol, Renu Verma, Harika Annapragada, Nalini Katiyar,

Senthilkumar M, Chapter 8 - Pseudomonas, Editor(s): N. Amaresan, M. Senthil Kumar,

K. Annapurna, Krishna Kumar, A. Sankaranarayanan, Beneficial Microbes in

Agro-Ecology, Academic Press, 2020, Pages 133-148, ISBN 9780128234143,

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823414-3.00008-3.

Novik, G., Savich, V., & Kiselev, E. (2015). An insight into beneficial pseudomonas bacteria.

Microbiology in Agriculture and Human Health. https://doi.org/10.5772/60502

Selina SP Chen, MD. “Pseudomonas Infection Medication: Antibiotics.” Pseudomonas Infection

Medication: Antibiotics, Medscape, 12 Jan. 2022,

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/970904-medication#.
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Zago, A., & Chugani, S. (2009, February 17). Pseudomonas. Encyclopedia of Microbiology

(Third Edition). Retrieved February 18, 2022, from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123739445002030