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How microbiological tests reflect bacterial pathogenesis and host adaptation

  • Bacterial, Fungal and Virus Molecular Biology - Review
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Abstract

Historically, clinical microbiological laboratories have often relied on isolation of pure cultures and phenotypic testing to identify microorganisms. These clinical tests are often based on specific biochemical reactions, growth characteristics, colony morphology, and other physiological aspects. The features used for identification in clinical laboratories are highly conserved and specific for a given group of microbes. We speculate that these features might be the result of evolutionary selection and thus may reflect aspects of the life cycle of the organism and pathogenesis. Indeed, several of the metabolic pathways targeted by diagnostic tests in some cases may represent mechanisms for host colonization or pathogenesis. Examples include, but are not restricted to, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella enterica, Shigella spp., and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC). Here, we provide an overview of how some common tests reflect molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Savannah J. Taylor for insightful discussion and comments on the manuscript.

Funding

Work in S.E.W.’s lab was funded by the NIH (AI118807, AI128151), The Welch Foundation (I-1969–20180324), the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (1017880), and a Research Scholar Grant (RSG-17–048-01-MPC) from the American Cancer Society.

Work in R.L.S.’s lab was funded by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil), FAPEMIG (Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil), and CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brazil). RLS has a fellowship from CNPq (Brazil).

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.

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Author notes

  1. Luisella Spiga and Angel G. Jimenez contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Luisella Spiga, Angel G. Jimenez & Sebastian E. Winter

  2. Departamento de Clínica E Cirurgia Veterinárias, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Renato L. Santos

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  4. Sebastian E. Winter
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Contributions

R.L.S. and S.E.W. conceptualized the manuscript upon invitation from the Editor; L.S. and A.G.J. performed the literature search and critical analysis of the literature; L.S., A.G.J., and S.E.W. drafted the manuscript. All coauthors critically revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sebastian E. Winter.

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S.E.W. is listed as an inventor on patent US10092596B2, which describes a treatment to prevent the inflammation-associated expansion of Enterobacteriaceae. The other authors have no additional financial interests.

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Spiga, L., Jimenez, A.G., Santos, R.L. et al. How microbiological tests reflect bacterial pathogenesis and host adaptation. Braz J Microbiol 52, 1745–1753 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-021-00571-7

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