A Novel Virulence Strategy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Mediated by an Autotransporter with Arginine-Specific Aminopeptidase Activity

The opportunistic human pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is a major cause of infections in chronic wounds, burns and the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. The P. aeruginosa genome encodes at least three proteins exhibiting the characteristic three domain structure of autotransporters, but much remains to be understood about the functions of these three proteins and their role in pathogenicity.