Exometabolomic analysis of susceptible and multi‐drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Multidrug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains have recently become one of the major public health concerns worldwide leading to difficulties in selecting appropriate antibiotic treatment. Thus, it is important to elucidate the characteristics of MDR isolates. Herein, we aimed to determine the unique exometabolome profile of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates in monocultures that comprise high resistance to multiple antibiotics, and compare the differential metabolite profiles obtained from susceptible isolates by using GC/MS. Our results showed that partial least square‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) score plot clearly discriminated the MDR and susceptible isolates indicating the altered exometabolite profiles, and highlighted the significantly enriched levels of trehalose and glutamic acid in MDR isolates. Expression of trehalose synthase (treS) was also 1·5‐fold higher in MDR isolates, relatively to susceptible isolates. Overall, our study provides insights into the distinct footprints of MDR P. aeruginosa isolates in mono‐culture. Significance and Impact of the Study: Despite numerous efforts to clarify genotypic differences between antimicrobial resistant and susceptible Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates, few studies addressed differences in metabolism of clinically important pathogens. To our knowledge, there has been no report on extracellular metabolite characterization of susceptible and resistant strains of P. aeruginosa. This study provides insights into a metabolic footprint of MDR and susceptible P. aeruginosa clinical isolates in mono‐cultures.