Proteus mirabilis fitness during ascending urinary tract infection

The Gram-negative bacterium Proteus mirabilis has been identified as the causative agent of numerous human illnesses including complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs). There are currently no licensed vaccines and increasing drug resistance is a major cause of concern. In this study, transposon insertion sequencing (TnSeq), which is a combination of conventional transposon mutagenesis and massive parallel DNA-sequencing, is being used for genome-wide enhanced screening of pools of mutants for identification of genes involved in pathogen survival during ascending UTI. We made an ordered library of 18,432 transposon mutants which will be used to generate a sub-library containing a single mutation in the majority of nonessential genes. The sub-library will then be used to transurethrally inoculate mice. Twenty-four hours post inoculation, the ratio of each transposon mutant in the input compared to the bladder and kidneys will be quantified to determine each gene's contribution to fitness during ascending UTI.