Growth in the host: catabolic capacities of opportunistic bacteria and possible links to virulence

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Bacteria are ubiquitous in nature, present in great diversity and quantity in all soils and water. Many environmental bacteria are harmless to animals and man, but others can jump from the environment to the human host and become extremely pathogenic. Infections with the soil bacteria Burkholderia cepacia complex have become a serious risk for people with the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis. We propose that that these opportunistic bacteria utilize nutrients to produce signal molecules that have a pathogenic effect to the host. In this research program, we will investigate which compounds present in the soil and in the human host serve as nutrients and at the same time elicit a pathogenic response in Burkholderia cepacia complex. We will create a large collection of bacterial mutants, defective in the use of certain nutrients and investigate if these mutants are less pathogenic. Thanks to B. cepacia complex's ability to colonize diverse hosts, we will be able to use host models like the plant Arabidopsis and the worm C. elegans, which allow screening hundreds of mutants in a short period of time. Our research will contribute to our general understanding of the host as a growth environment where the host nutrients could be exploited to build molecules that trigger pathogenic responses in opportunistic bacteria.