Compensatory evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa slow growth phenotype suggests mechanisms of adaptation in cystic fibrosis

We employed Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE) to revert the slow growth phenotype of clinical strains of P. aeruginosa and to map adaptive trajectories back to a naïve-like state using whole-genome sequencing and transcriptomics. We investigated the degree of evolvability, the genetic basis of the reverted growth rate and its effect on the antibiotic sensitivity profiles of three clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa at an intermediate and adapted stages of evolution.