Bordetella pertussis lipid A glucosamine modification confers resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides and increases resistance to outer membrane perturbation.

Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, has many strategies for evading the human immune system. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an important Gram-negative bacterial surface structure that activates the immune system via Toll-like receptor 4 and enables susceptibility to cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs). We show modification of the lipid A region of LPS with glucosamine increased resistance to numerous CAMPs, including LL-37. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this glucosamine modification increased resistance to outer membrane perturbation.