Surviving the host: microbial metabolic genes required for growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in physiologically-relevant conditions

Here, we used a saturated transposon insertion mutant pool of P. aeruginosa strain PAO1 and transposon insertion sequencing (Tn-Seq), to identify genes conditionally important for survival under conditions mimicking the environment of a nosocomial infection. Conditions tested included tissue culture medium with and without human serum, a murine abscess model, and a human skin organoid model. Overall design: Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 TnSeq mutant pools were grown under physiologically-relevant conditions to identify genes conditionally essential to growth. Tested growth conditions included LB (planktonic), Mueller-Hinton Broth (MHB), RPMI supplemented with MHB (RPMI), RPMI supplemented with MHB and human serum (Serum), in-vivo murine skin abscess model that was left untreated (Abs_unt), and air-liquid interface human N/TERT skin organoid model (skin).