Grup de Recerca en Microbiologia - UIB

Mycobacterium

The Rapid Growing Mycobacteria (RGM) or Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), are widely distributed in the environment and some of them are considered as emerging opportunistic pathogens. Nosocomial infections caused by RGM are usually difficult to treat as a consequence of the resistance to antibiotics or other external factors. Genomic approaches, together with the derived pan genome analysis of these microorganisms, are expected to open new insights to better understand the adaptation to different ecological niches, including the human body.

Pseudomonas

Bacteria belonging to the Pseudomonas group are common inhabitants of soil and water and can also be found on the surfaces of plants and animals. Pseudomonas bacteria are found in nature in a biofilm or in planktonic form. In the latter form the single cell can display an extremely high motility due to its polar flagella. Pseudomonas bacteria are renowned for their metabolic versatility as they can grow under a variety of growth conditions and do not need any organic growth factors. Typically they are plant pathogens, although several strains are pathogenic to humans.

Pseudomonas stutzeri is a nonfluorescent denitrifying bacterium widely distributed in the environment, and it has also been isolated as an opportunistic pathogen from humans. Over the past 20 years, much progress has been made in elucidating the taxonomy of this diverse taxonomical group, demonstrating the clonality of its populations. The species has received much attention because of its particular metabolic properties: it has been proposed as a model organism for denitrification studies; many strains have natural transformation properties, making it relevant for study of the transfer of genes in the environment; several strains are able to fix dinitrogen; and others participate in the degradation of pollutants or interact with toxic metals.