Copper Homeostasis is Important for Pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Caenorhabditis elegans

Cano, Tristan B.

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Copper Homeostasis is Important for Pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Caenorhabditis elegans

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Transition metal homeostasis is important for organisms, as they are both essential for biological processes as well as toxic. The opportunistic parasite Pseudomonas aeruginosa has shown that metal ion homeostasis, specifically copper, may be important to its pathogenesis. This study utilizes the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism to study this pathogenesis. C. elegans was exposed to mutants of P. aeruginosa that pertain to the bacteria's copper homeostasis system and lethality was measured over time to infer the importance of these genes to P. aeruginosa's pathogenesis. Here, it is shown that knockouts of these genes do cause a decrease in lethality, suggesting copper homeostasis is an important measure by which P. aeruginosa resists the immune responses of its hosts.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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