Pseudomonas bacteria are common in water and plant seeds, and some strains are pathogenic to humans and plants. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can infect hospital patients, while other strains can be used for biocontrol in agriculture.
Pseudomonas bacteria are all bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas of the gamma proteobacteria. This type of bacteria is often infectious and has many characteristics in common with other pathogenic bacteria. They are very commonly found in water and some types of plant seeds, and for this reason they were observed very early in the history of microbiology. The name Pseudomonas literally means “false unity”.
Pseudomonas bacteria are rod-shaped like many other bacterial strains and are Gram-negative. This means that when stained with a certain purplish-red dye according to the Gram staining protocol, they do not retain the color of the dye after being washed. This fact provides important clues about the cell wall structure of these bacteria. It shows that it is resistant to some types of antibiotics, which is proving increasingly relevant.
One type of Pseudomonas bacterium is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is responsible for an increasing number of infections in hospital patients, especially those suffering from cancer or severe burns. This opportunistic pathogen has minimal nutritional requirements, evidenced by the fact that it has been found to grow in distilled water. Its preferred temperature for growth is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees C), making it particularly suitable for infecting human body tissue. It’s important to note, however, that this bacterium is often found harmlessly on the skin and in the body of healthy people.
Some types of Pseudomonas bacteria are also pathogenic to plant life. Many of these, interestingly enough, show a tendency to only infect certain plants in certain ways and use specific tactics to do so. Even when not strictly plant pathogens, these bacteria can affect agriculture in other ways, often causing problems in mushroom cultivation.
Due to the infectious nature of these bacteria, they can actually be used to fight other agricultural pathogens. Since the 1980s, certain types of Pseudomonas bacteria, such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, have been applied directly to soils and seeds to prevent the growth of crop pathogens. This practice of deterring one type of pathogen with another is generally referred to as biocontrol. Another member of the Pseudomonas genus that has biocontrol properties is Pseudomonas chlororaphis, which in turn produces an antibiotic that is active against some fungi that attack plants. There is still a lot of study to be done in the area of biocontrol and Pseudomonas bacteria may yet prove to have further useful qualities.
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