Objective: The pathogenesis and the outcome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ventilator-
acquired pneumonia depend on the virulence factors displayed by the bacteria as well as
the host response. Thus, quorum sensing, lipopolysaccharide, and type 3 secretion system
have each individually been shown to be important virulence systems in laboratory
reference strains. However, the relative contribution of these three factors to the in vivo
pathogenicity of clinically relevant strains has never been studied. We analyzed the …