The microbial ARchive and Cryo-collection (microbialARC) is a newly formed initiative under the PennCHOP Microbiome Program umbrella and supported by the CHOP Microbiome Center. It supports the collection, biobanking, and whole genome sequencing (WGS) of commensal and pathogenic bacteria, viruses and fungi, making them widely available for clinical and basic researchers, and provides whole genome sequences and computational tools for clinical, translational, and basic investigation. microbialARC aims to bring personalized patient care and infection control at CHOP through the power of genomics.  ​

As part of the microbialARC mission, we have biobanked pathogens from every patient with bacteremia at CHOP in collaboration with the CHOP Infectious Disease and Diagnostics Lab (IDDL) with a goal of better patient care and cutting-edge discoveries. In this study, we investigate bacteremia isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa species. Using comparative genomics techniques, we are interested in understanding the relationship between these different isolates.​

After biobanking, sequencing, and running bioinformatics programs on the P. aeruginosa isolates collected, we found that the CHOP bacteremia genomes did not segregate into a distinct clade apart from the NCBI genomic sequences, indicating that there was no single P. aeruginosa strain responsible for a bacteremia outbreak in the hospital.​ Additionally, the isolates of P. aeruginosa from the same individual were closely positioned on the maximum likelihood tree generated from the alignment of core genes, suggesting that the individual was infected only once.​ The results we obtained regarding the clades on the tree are supported by high bootstrap values. 

In the future, we hope to continue studying Pseudomonas aeruginosa from bacteremia isolates to better understand its mechanism in the prognosis of bacteremia and improve patient care.