Pseudomonas aeruginosa can modulate its production of outer membrane porins. A reduction in outer membrane porins can result in:[Fill in the blank]

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Question restatement: Pseudomonas aeruginosa can modulate its production of outer membrane porins. A reduction in outer membrane porins can result in: ______.

Option a: increased resistance to beta-lactams due to decreased uptake.
This is plausible because beta-lactam antibiotics often enter Gram-negative bacteria through outer membrane porins. If porin channels are reduced, the permeability for beta-lactams decreases, leading to lower intracellular concentrations and therefore higher resistance.

Option b: decreased resistance to beta-lactams due to increased uptake.
This would require more antibiotic to enter the cell, which contradicts the mechanism of porin reduction. A decrease in porins typically lowers, not raises, antibiotic uptake, so this option is inconsistent with known biology.

Option c: increased resistance to beta-lactams due to decreased efflux.
Porin loss affects entry into the cell (uptake), not the efflux pumps directly. While efflux can contribute to resistance, removing porins does not inherently increase resistance via decreased efflux; it would more directly impact uptake, making this rationale less direct and therefore less accurate for this specific scenario.

Option d: decreased resistance to beta-lactams due to increased efflux.
Again, porin reduction mainly reduces influx. An increase in efflux would also raise resistance, not decrease it. The combination of decreased porin with increased efflux could contribute to resistance, but the statement specifies decreased resistance, which contradicts the expected outcome of reduced entry.

In summary, the mechanism by which fewer outer membrane porins lower membrane permeability to antibiotics aligns with higher beta-lactam resistance due to reduced drug uptake. The remaining options misinterpret the relationship between porin expression, drug uptake, and resistance, or invert the direction of effect that porin loss would have on antibiotic entry.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa can modulate its production of outer membrane porins. A reduction in outer membrane porins can result in:[Fill in the blank]

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