Flagella and motility alterations in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains from patients with cystic fibrosis: relationship to patient clinical condition.

Selected physiological parameters of 31 classic and rough Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains from respiratory tract cultures of patients with cystic fibrosis were examined. An association of a patient's clinical condition (good or poor) with strain physiology was made. Rough strains from patients in poor clinical condition demonstrated severe alterations in motility when compared with M-2, a highly motile and chemotactic burn strain. Of the 10 rough strains from patients in poor clinical condition, 70% lacked flagella, as determined by electron microscopy. The remaining few flagellated strains from this group exhibited weak motility both in soft agar and by the capillary assay. Their chemotactic response to three amino acids, when compared with that of strain M-2, was reduced approximately 30 to 90%. Classic strains from patients in poor clinical condition were less chemotactic than those from patients in good clinical condition. A majority of classic and rough strains from patients in good clinical condition were comparable to M-2 in both chemotaxis and motility. Changes in other physiological characteristics indicated by reduced growth rates, or auxotrophy, were seldom observed in the cystic fibrosis strains studied. The data suggest that host-selective pressures, associated primarily with patients with cystic fibrosis that are in poor clinical condition, result in the loss of factors related to invasiveness such as motility and chemotaxis. We propose that these results may reflect that there is a more general alteration in the cell envelope of cystic fibrosis strains.