Infections with multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the most common healthcare-associated infections among immunocompromised and post-surgery patients, affected an estimated 32,600 patients in the United States in 2017, resulting in nearly 3,000 deaths, and is the predominant pathogen causing lung infections in individuals with cystic fibrosis and other pulmonary disorders.^1-3 Rising rates of multidrug-resistant isolates of P. aeruginosa limit treatment options, strengthening the need for new antimicrobials and alternative tools. A new collection of P. aeruginosa strains, selected from a respository of over 3,400 clinical isolates collected worldwide between 2003 and 2017, is now available to the research community focusing on multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa.

This unique panel of 100 highly diverse, multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa strains from the Multidrug Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network (MRSN) within Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's Bacterial Diseases Branch represents isolates from each phylogenetic group with a wide-range of well-characterized antibiotic resistance patterns. Extensive data is available for each isolate, including isolation history, whole genome sequencing, characterization by mutilocus sequence typing, a comprehensive list of antibiotic resistance genes carried, and antibiotic susceptibilities to eleven clinically relevant antibiotics commonly used to treat P. aeruginosa infections: amikacin, aztreonam, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, cefepime, gentamicin, imipenem, levofloxacin, meropenem, tobramycin and piperacillin/tazobactam.

The P. aeruginosa MRSN Diversity Panel is available as both a complete kit containing all 100 strains as BEI Resources NR-51829, as well as individually.

References:

1. “Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/pdf/threats-report/pseudomonas-aeruginosa-508.pdf.
2. Cabot, G., et al. “Evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Antimicrobial Resistance and Fitness under Low and High Mutation Rates.” Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 60 (2016): 1767-1778. PubMed: 26729493.
3. Pang, Z., et al. “Antibiotic Resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Mechanisms and Alternative Therapeutic Strategies.” Biotechnol. Adv. 37 (2019): 177-192. PubMed: 30500353.

Image:  Illustration of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CDC/Medical Illustrator: Jennifer Oosthuizen)