Phenotypical adaptation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the presence of siderophore-antibiotic conjugates during epithelial cell infection

This study aims at investigating the ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to detect the presence of siderophore-antibiotic conjugates in an epithelial cell infection assay. We show that the presence of siderophore-antibiotic conjugates induces the transcription and expression of their corresponding transporters, indicating the bacteria are able to sense the chelators in their environment and adapt their phenotype accordingly.