Chronic respiratory infections with the ubiquitous, gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas
aeruginosa has been implicated as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality
in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Research in the Boucher laboratory centers
around the analysis of proteins localized to the P. aeruginosa outer membrane.
P. aeruginosa, as well as other bacteria, are protected from the environment
via an outer membrane (OM). To date, there are a number of OM proteins that have
been identified for P. aeruginosa. However, the exact number and function of
all the P. aeruginosa outer membrane proteins remain unknown. The questions I’m
addressing are: (I) how many additional proteins to those already identified
are there in the P. aeruginosa OM?, and (ii) is there a particular outer membrane
protein that may be higher in concentration in P. aeruginosa strains chronically
infecting CF patients?. In order to answer these questions a number of proteomic
and genomic approaches are currently being used.