{
  "abstract": "Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading cause of healthcare-associated infections, especially in immunocompromised patients and individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). P. aeruginosa commonly causes chronic infections within the respiratory tracts of patients with CF. These infections are marked by a shift from the production of acute virulence factors (secreted toxins) to colonization (biofilm formation) and persistence within the host. To better understand the transcriptomic changes that occur during this shift within the context of host-pathogen interactions, we took advantage of a whole-organism model system. Using an established Caenorhabditis elegans – P. aeruginosa colonization model, we identified genes differentially regulated during establishment of the infection of the C. elegans intestine. By comparing this transcriptomic signature to those from P. aeruginosa from CF sputum samples and an ex vivo porcine lung biofilm model, we demonstrated that Slow Killing partially recapitulates chronic lung infection. Notably, we observed the upregulation of lipid A and exopolysaccharide (Pel, alginate) biosynthetic genes within the nematode host and downregulation of acute virulence pathways including quorum-sensing, phenazine production, toxin secretion, and siderophore-mediated iron uptake. Further characterization of these differentially-regulated genes revealed key bacterial pathways, including quorum-sensing and the PhoPQ regulatory network, that impacted host survival during infection. These results demonstrate that the C. elegans Slow Killing model is a highly accessible tool for studying host-pathogen interactions and benchmark it against clinical samples.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of BioSciences, Rice University",
    "Department of Bioengineering, Rice University"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sadie Gaskins"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Liyang Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Donghoon Kang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Qi Xu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Natalia V. Kirienko"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5t6ytxj59mhqt.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1990701",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13731205/",
  "id": "5t6ytxj59mhqt",
  "issns": [
    "1664-302X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1990701/full",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223128455",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1990701/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13731205",
  "pmid": "42984830",
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5t6ytxj59mhqt.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:12Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1990701",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1990701/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T12:21:26Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13731205",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1990701"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Caenorhabditis elegans Slow Killing recapitulates chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and reveals mediators of host-pathogen interactions",
  "title_text": "Caenorhabditis elegans Slow Killing recapitulates chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and reveals mediators of host-pathogen interactions",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:21:26Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5t6ytxj59mhqt",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Microbiology",
  "versions": []
}