ABSTRACT
Members of the genus Proteus are ubiquitously distributed in the environment, and many of them are human pathogens. In particular, P. mirabilis is an important etiological agent of opportunistic and nosocomial infections. Proteus mirabilis is a Gram-negative bacterium, a dimorphic and motile member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. It has the ability to differentiate from short rods into elongated, multinucleate swarm cells that overexpress flagella. Proteus mirabilis expresses several virulence factors that are related to pathogenicity and to biofilm formation. P. mirabilis has become an interesting model microorganism since it expresses an impressive variety of virulence factors. Several efforts have been made to generate vaccines against P. mirabilis infections. urinary tract infections (UTIs) represent an important problem in health and result in high economical losses; so the development of vaccines is not worth without mentioning that the quality of life of afflicted individuals is also affected.
