Heer Mehta

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen and is the major cause of hospital acquired infections, especially in immunocompromised individuals such as burn victims and cystic fibrosis patients. Pseudomonas can rapidly acquire resistance to various antibiotics making treatment difficult. A polymyxin called Colistin, which was first introduced in the 1950s for treatment of gram negative pathogens has now re-emerged as a treatment option and is the drug of last resort for multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas. However, colistin resistant Pseudomonas isolates have been recovered from patients undergoing treatment with colistin. In this study, we are going to use experimental evolution to follow the development of colistin resistance in this pathogen. Deep sequencing of resistant populations isolated at various times during the course of evolution will provide information about the genetic changes that lead to resistance. Downstream studies to identify the pathways that are affected by these mutations will provide information to design strategies that could be used to maintain effectiveness of colistin against the pathogen. The experimental evolution pipeline will also be used to study how antibiotic resistance develops in some emerging pathogens. Treatment strategies for these pathogens can then be designed to minimize development of resistance and spread of the pathogen.

Heer Mehta, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Keck Hall, Room 335
BioSciences Department 6100 Main Street Houston, TX 77005
Email: hm22@rice.edu
Ph: 713-348-2220
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen and is the major cause of hospital acquired infections, especially in immunocompromised individuals such as burn victims and cystic fibrosis patients. Pseudomonas can rapidly acquire resistance to various antibiotics making treatment difficult. A polymyxin called Colistin, which was first introduced in the 1950s for treatment of gram negative pathogens has now re-emerged as a treatment option and is the drug of last resort for multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas. However, colistin resistant Pseudomonas isolates have been recovered from patients undergoing treatment with colistin. In this study, we are going to use experimental evolution to follow the development of colistin resistance in this pathogen. Deep sequencing of resistant populations isolated at various times during the course of evolution will provide information about the genetic changes that lead to resistance. Downstream studies to identify the pathways that are affected by these mutations will provide information to design strategies that could be used to maintain effectiveness of colistin against the pathogen. The experimental evolution pipeline will also be used to study how antibiotic resistance develops in some emerging pathogens. Treatment strategies for these pathogens can then be designed to minimize development of resistance and spread of the pathogen.