Team:Northwestern

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''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' is an opportunistic pathogen that colonizes in immunocompromised patients. It is commonly found within hospitals and is the predominant microorganism responsible for chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. The bacterium also causes 12% of hospital-acquired urinary tract infections, 10% of bloodstream infections, and 8% of surgical wound infections. Existing detection methods utilize expensive, time consuming blood and cell cultures. Our goal is to transplant elements of the organism’s natural quorum sensing system into ''E. coli'' in order to create a novel sensor that is able to detect the presence of this bacterium within a blood sample both quickly and effectively.
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''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' is an opportunistic pathogen commonly found in immunocompromised patients. In addition to being the primary cause of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients, many severe nosocomial infections can be attributed to ''P. aeruginosa''. Currently, the standard detection method requires a potential sample to be grown overnight and then screened for the pathogen of interest. Our goal is to create a faster detection method without sacrificing reliability or experimental resolution. To realize our objective, we harnessed the native cell signaling and quorum sensing machinery of ''P. aeruginosa''.  Quorum sensing in ''P. aeruginosa'' is a complex hierarchy that governs the expression of numerous virulence genes. Quorum sensing elements from ''P. aeruginosa'' were transplanted into ''E. coli'' and used to express detectable reporters. We are thus creating a novel biosensor capable of detecting the presence of ''P. Aeruginosa'' both quickly and effectively.
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Revision as of 18:41, 9 September 2011

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    Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen commonly found in immunocompromised patients. In addition to being the primary cause of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients, many severe nosocomial infections can be attributed to P. aeruginosa. Currently, the standard detection method requires a potential sample to be grown overnight and then screened for the pathogen of interest. Our goal is to create a faster detection method without sacrificing reliability or experimental resolution. To realize our objective, we harnessed the native cell signaling and quorum sensing machinery of P. aeruginosa. Quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa is a complex hierarchy that governs the expression of numerous virulence genes. Quorum sensing elements from P. aeruginosa were transplanted into E. coli and used to express detectable reporters. We are thus creating a novel biosensor capable of detecting the presence of P. Aeruginosa both quickly and effectively.


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