Pseudomonas aeruginos, a gram-negative bacterium, is often preliminarily identified by its pearlescent appearance and grape-like odor in vitro. The word Pseudomonas means “false unit” (in Greek). The species name aeruginosa is derived from the Greek prefix "ae" meaning “old” or “aged” and the suffix "ruginosa" means 'wrinkled or bumpy.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is a gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped and ubiquitous microorganism that occurs regularly on the surfaces of plants and occasionally on the surfaces of animals. An opportunistic pathogen of immunocompromised individuals, P. aeruginosa typically infects the pulmonary tract, urinary tract, burns, and wounds, and also causes other blood infections. It's the most common cause of burn and external ear infections, and is the most frequent colonizer of medical devices (e. g., catheters). Antibiotics are traditionally used as agents to treat microbial infections. However, the emergence of multi-antibiotic resistance strains among a wide variety of bacterial pathogens limits the therapeutic options available for effective treatment. Among these resistant bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is of great concern because of its capability to utilize a wide variety of resistance mechanisms. The rate of mortality in patients with hospital acquired P. aeruginosea infections exceeds 50%. There is therefore an urgent need for the use of alternative approaches for treatment. Use of proteins and peptides as antimicrobial agents is inspired by nature and has recently attracted much attention as an antibiotic-free approach to treat bacterial infections. Various nanostructures such as polymer nanoparticles generally providing a large surface area for the immobilization of enzyme molecules have actively been developed for enzyme stabilization. Our research focuses on the use of antimicrobial enzymes covalently attached to nanoparticles that is of special interest because of enhanced stability of enzyme-nanoparticle conjugates and the possibility of targeted delivery. This picture was captured using a HITACHI 4800 scanning electron microscope in order to study surface topography and cell wall features of the bacterium.

Funding sources for research represented by the image:
Neeraj Gohad and Dr. Andy Mount
Biological sciences course no: 888 – Microscopy practicum