The success of acinetobacter species; genetic, metabolic and virulence attributes

Peleg, Anton Y., de Breij, Anna, Adams, Mark D., Cerqueira, Gustavo M., Mocali, Stefano, Galardini, Marco, Nibbering, Peter H., Earl, Ashlee M., Ward, Doyle V., Paterson, David L., Seifert, Harald, and Dijkshoorn, Lenie (2012) The success of acinetobacter species; genetic, metabolic and virulence attributes. PLoS ONE, 7 (10). e46984. pp. 1-11.

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Abstract

An understanding of why certain Acinetobacter species are more successful in causing nosocomial infections, transmission and epidemic spread in healthcare institutions compared with other species is lacking. We used genomic, phenotypic and virulence studies to identify differences between Acinetobacter species. Fourteen strains representing nine species were examined. Genomic analysis of six strains showed that the A. baumannii core genome contains many genes important for diverse metabolism and survival in the host. Most of the A. baumannii core genes were also present in one or more of the less clinically successful species. In contrast, when the accessory genome of an individual A. baumannii strain was compared to a strain of a less successful species (A. calcoaceticus RUH2202), many operons with putative virulence function were found to be present only in the A. baumannii strain, including the csu operon, the acinetobactin chromosomal cluster, and bacterial defence mechanisms. Phenotype microarray analysis showed that compared to A. calcoaceticus (RUH2202), A. baumannii ATCC 19606(T) was able to utilise nitrogen sources more effectively and was more tolerant to pH, osmotic and antimicrobial stress. Virulence differences were also observed, with A. baumannii ATCC 19606(T), A. pittii SH024, and A. nosocomialis RUH2624 persisting and forming larger biofilms on human skin than A. calcoaceticus. A. baumannii ATCC 19606(T) and A. pittii SH024 were also able to survive in a murine thigh infection model, whereas the other two species were eradicated. The current study provides important insights into the elucidation of differences in clinical relevance among Acinetobacter species.

Item ID: 37411
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1932-6203
Additional Information:

© 2012 Peleg et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funders: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC)
Projects and Grants: NHMRC project Grant APP1010114, NHMRC Biomedical Fellowship APP606961
Date Deposited: 26 Feb 2015 03:34
FoR Codes: 06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0605 Microbiology > 060502 Infectious Agents @ 50%
06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0605 Microbiology > 060503 Microbial Genetics @ 50%
SEO Codes: 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences @ 100%
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