Surface characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown in a chamber implant model in mice and rats.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 was grown in vivo in chambers implanted into the peritoneums of mice and rats. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of extracts of bacterial cells taken from the chambers and washed to remove loosely bound host proteins revealed the presence of the major outer membrane proteins D2, E, F, G, and H2. Western immunoblotting with specific antisera confirmed the presence of porin protein F and lipoprotein H2. However, there was no apparent induction of the phosphate starvation-inducible porin P or the divalent cation starvation-inducible protein H1. Small amounts of proteins with molecular weights similar to those of the iron-regulated outer membrane proteins were found in cells grown in vivo; however, their presence could not be confirmed immunologically. The presence of pili and flagella on the cells grown in vivo was demonstrated by electron microscopy and Western immunoblotting. A consistent alteration in the lipopolysaccharide banding pattern was observed after growth in vivo. Compared with cells of strain PAO1 grown in vitro, cells grown in vivo appeared to lack a series of high-molecular-weight O-antigen-containing lipopolysaccharide bands and gained a new series of lower-molecular-weight lipopolysaccharide bands. This alteration in the lipopolysaccharide after growth in vivo did not affect the O-antigen serotype or the resistance of the bacteria to serum.