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testing, analysed and interpreted data and wrote the first draft; BEK, YT, AJ, LS and AS contributed to study design; ILA designed and

Farnesyltransferase undertook molecular analyses (except MLST); LS analysed the PFGE data, DAC and MS were responsible Vorinostat in vivo for acquisition of MLST data and AJ advised on bioinformatics. All authors participated in interpretation of results, critically revised the draft for intellectual content and approved the final article.”
“Background Bronchiectasis is a significant cause of chronic respiratory disease resulting in irreversible abnormally dilated bronchi associated with chronic inflammation, chronic cough and sputum production [1]. It can be caused by physical obstruction or post infectious damage, genetic defects (as observed in cystic fibrosis), abnormal host defence or autoimmune disease but in many cases bronchiectasis is idiopathic [2]. In this study we have focussed on the examination of a cohort of patients that presented with non-CF bronchiectasis (NCFBr). Chronic airway infection contributes to the underlying pathogenesis of the disease, with progressive lung damage resulting from recurrent bacterial infections and inflammatory responses [3]. The most commonly cultured pathogens associated with sputum of NCFBr are Haemophilus influenzae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with many isolated strains showing significant antibiotic resistance [1, 4]. In prior studies, individuals that were culture-negative for bacterial pathogens showed the mildest disease, whereas, those with P.