Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium and opportunistic human pathogen, which is known to infect immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis (CF)-afflicted individuals. P. aeruginosa is capable of forming antibiotic-resistant biofilms on surfaces and is a known source of hospital-acquired infections. P. aeruginosa undergoes swarming motility, a rapid and coordinated movement, under viscous, nitrogen-limiting conditions. These conditions mimic the human lung, indicating that swarming might be involved in initial infectivity. Importantly, when P. aeruginosa swarms, its resistance to many different antibiotics adaptively increases by unknown mechanisms. This research aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying the ability of P. aeruginosa to transiently increase antibiotic resistance while swarming. The goal of this project is to identify the genes involved in swarming-mediated antibiotic resistance, and determine how the differential expression of these genes confers antibiotic resistance. This research will provide insight into the mechanisms behind adaptive antibiotic resistance and will identify potential targets for therapies in antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa infections.