A review of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the environment: pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance, genetic diversity, and removal ways from water treatment

Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a waterborne pathogen is a growing concern to public health sectors. Many sources of environmental water could potentially be acting as a reservoir for potentially pathogenic strains of P. aeruginosa. Due to the fact that P. aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen and causes serious problems, it seems necessary to know the pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance, genetic diversity and methods of removing it from drinking water. The pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa has been extensively studied and proven to be a multifactorial process, mediated by quorum sensing. P. aeruginosa possess two quorum sensing systems, las and rhl that facilitate cell to cell communication through production of signalling molecules termed autoinducers to target specific receptors for activation. P. aeruginosa is intrinsically resistant to various antibiotics due to a low permeability in the outer membrane, which acts as a selective barrier. However, this bacterium is a highly diverse pathogen that is capable of adaptation to the surrounding environment. When subjected to antibiotic selective pressure, the induced response facilitates bacterial survival and develops antibiotic resistance. literature suggests that the large genome size and genome complexity are responsible for the ability of this bacterium to adapt and thrive in a diverse range of environments. The presence and persistence of these bacteria in environmental waters may pose a great risk to the public health and requires further work to fully characterize and quantify the input of MDR P. aeruginosa strains from the hospitals compared with those originating from the general community or other wastewater related sources.