Environmental Uses and Pathogenic Potential of Paenibacillus lautus
Kathryn O'Donnell
University of Minnesota Duluth
Abstract
Paenibacillus lautus has a wide variety of environmental and clinical sources and contains many survival mechanisms that may contribute to pathogenicity. P. lautus demonstrates proficiency in the degradation of cellulose and diesel, resistance to high temperatures and heavy metal exposure, biofilm and endospore formation, and persistence in various digestive systems. It has also been shown to utilize swarming motility and reversible phenotypic switching, both of which may be factors in increasing pathogenicity and human infection prevalence due to the extensive bacterial communication necessary to carry out these processes. It is important to be aware of these factors as they relate to the broader Paenibacillus species, particularly by comparing the phenotypic switching and complex swarming motility patterns of P. lautus to those of P. dendritiformis and P. vortex. Targeting this communication may be the key to developing effective antibiotics in the case of a multi-drug resistant strain of P. lautus. By knowing the pathogenic implications of the survival strategies utilized by this species and weighing the benefits of its cellulolytic and pollutant-degrading potential against its ability to cause opportunistic infection through tick vectors, we may be more equipped to handle an influx of human infections caused by this bacterium.
