scholarly journals The Opportunistic Human Pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii Senses and Responds to Light

2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (24) ◽  
pp. 6336-6345 ◽  
Author(s):  
María A. Mussi ◽  
Jennifer A. Gaddy ◽  
Matías Cabruja ◽  
Brock A. Arivett ◽  
Alejandro M. Viale ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Light is a ubiquitous environmental signal that many organisms sense and respond to by modulating their physiological responses accordingly. While this is an expected response among phototrophic microorganisms, the ability of chemotrophic prokaryotes to sense and react to light has become a puzzling and novel issue in bacterial physiology, particularly among bacterial pathogens. In this work, we show that the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii senses and responds to blue light. Motility and formation of biofilms and pellicles were observed only when bacterial cells were incubated in darkness. In contrast, the killing of Candida albicans filaments was enhanced when they were cocultured with bacteria under light. These bacterial responses depend on the expression of the A. baumannii ATCC 17978 A1S_2225 gene, which codes for an 18.6-kDa protein that contains an N-terminal blue-light-sensing-using flavin (BLUF) domain and lacks a detectable output domain(s). Spectral analyses of the purified recombinant protein showed its ability to sense light by a red shift upon illumination. Therefore, the A1S_2225 gene, which is present in several members of the Acinetobacter genus, was named blue-light-sensing A (blsA). Interestingly, temperature plays a role in the ability of A. baumannii to sense and respond to light via the BlsA photoreceptor protein.

2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (9) ◽  
pp. 3386-3392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Niu ◽  
Katy M. Clemmer ◽  
Robert A. Bonomo ◽  
Philip N. Rather

ABSTRACT The opportunistic human pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii strain M2 was found to produce distinct acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) signals based on the use of an Agrobacterium tumefaciens traG-lacZ biosensor. An A. baumannii gene, designated abaI, was cloned and directed AHL production in recombinant Escherichia coli. The AbaI protein was similar to members of the LuxI family of autoinducer synthases and was predicted to be the only autoinducer synthase encoded by A. baumannii. The primary AHL signal directed by AbaI was identified by mass spectrometry as being N-(3-hydroxydodecanoyl)-l-HSL (3-hydroxy-C12-HSL). Minor amounts of at least five additional AHLs were also identified. The expression of abaI at the transcriptional level was activated by ethyl acetate extracts of culture supernatants or by synthetic 3-hydroxy-C12-HSL. An abaI::Km mutant failed to produce any detectable AHL signals and was impaired in biofilm development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (44) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bailey Pehde ◽  
Nicholas Lizer ◽  
Michael Carruthers

Acinetobacter nosocomialis is an opportunistic human pathogen that is part of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus/Acinetobacter baumannii (ACB) complex. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of Acinetobacter nosocomialis strain M2.


Author(s):  
Josephine Joy Hubloher ◽  
Kim Schabacker ◽  
Volker Müller ◽  
Beate Averhoff

The opportunistic human pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii has become one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections around the world due to the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains and their optimal adaptation to clinical environments and the human host. Recently, it was found that CsrA, a global mRNA binding posttranscriptional regulator, plays a role in osmotic stress adaptation, virulence, and growth on amino acids of A. baumannii AB09-003 and 17961.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoumeh Madhi ◽  
Troels Ronco ◽  
Alka Hasani ◽  
Rikke H. Olsen

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic human pathogen with the ability to develop multiple resistances against the main antibiotic classes. It causes nosocomial infections, especially in intensive care units.


2016 ◽  
Vol 198 (21) ◽  
pp. 2936-2944 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Zhao ◽  
April L. Clevenger ◽  
Jerry W. Ritchey ◽  
Helen I. Zgurskaya ◽  
Valentin V. Rybenkov

ABSTRACTCondensins play a key role in global chromosome packing.Pseudomonas aeruginosaencodes two condensins, SMC-ScpAB and MksBEF. We report here that the two proteins are involved in the differentiation of the bacterium and impose opposite physiological states. The inactivation of SMC induced a state characterized by increased adhesion to surfaces as well as defects in competitive growth and colony formation. In contrast, MksB-deficient cells were impaired in biofilm formation with no obvious defects during planktonic growth. The phenotype of the double mutant was dominated by the absence of MksB, indicating that the observed growth defects are regulatory in their nature rather than structural. ATPase mutations recapitulated many of the phenotypes of the condensins, indicating their requirement for a functional protein. Additionally, inactivation of condensins dramatically reduced the virulence of the bacterium in a murine model of lung infection. These data demonstrate that condensins are involved in the differentiation ofP. aeruginosaand reveal their importance for pathogenicity.IMPORTANCEAdaptation and differentiation play key roles in bacterial pathogenicity. InPseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic human pathogen, these processes are mediated by the activity of an intricate regulatory network. We describe here novel members of this network, condensins. We show that the twoP. aeruginosacondensins specialize in the establishment of the sessile and planktonic states of the bacterium. Whereas condensins have well-established roles in global chromosome organization, their roles in regulating bacterial physiology have remained unknown. Our data indicate that the two programs may be linked. We further show that condensins are essential for the pathogenicity ofP. aeruginosa.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 630
Author(s):  
Diaa Alrahmany ◽  
Ahmed F. Omar ◽  
Gehan Harb ◽  
Wasim S. El El Nekidy ◽  
Islam M. Ghazi

Background Acinetobacter baumannii (AB), an opportunistic pathogen, could develop into serious infections with high mortality and financial burden. The debate surrounding the selection of effective antibiotic treatment necessitates studies to define the optimal approach. This study aims to compare the clinical outcomes of commonly used treatment regimens in hospitalized patients


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Dollery ◽  
Daniel V. Zurawski ◽  
Elena K. Gaidamakova ◽  
Vera Y. Matrosova ◽  
John K. Tobin ◽  
...  

Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacterial pathogen that is often multidrug-resistant (MDR) and causes a range of life-threatening illnesses, including pneumonia, septicemia, and wound infections. Some antibiotic treatments can reduce mortality if dosed early enough before an infection progresses, but there are few other treatment options when it comes to MDR-infection. Although several prophylactic strategies have been assessed, no vaccine candidates have advanced to clinical trials or have been approved. Herein, we rapidly produced protective whole-cell immunogens from planktonic and biofilm-like cultures of A. baumannii, strain AB5075 grown using a variety of methods. After selecting a panel of five cultures based on distinct protein profiles, replicative activity was extinguished by exposure to 10 kGy gamma radiation in the presence of a Deinococcus antioxidant complex composed of manganous (Mn2+) ions, a decapeptide, and orthophosphate. Mn2+ antioxidants prevent hydroxylation and carbonylation of irradiated proteins, but do not protect nucleic acids, yielding replication-deficient immunogenic A. baumannii vaccine candidates. Mice were immunized and boosted twice with 1.0 × 107 irradiated bacterial cells and then challenged intranasally with AB5075 using two mouse models. Planktonic cultures grown for 16 h in rich media and biofilm cultures grown in static cultures underneath minimal (M9) media stimulated immunity that led to 80–100% protection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kameron D. Garza ◽  
Heather Newkirk ◽  
Russell Moreland ◽  
Carlos F. Gonzalez ◽  
Mei Liu ◽  
...  

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging opportunistic human pathogen. In this report, we describe the isolation and genomic annotation of the S. maltophilia-infecting bacteriophage Mendera. A myophage of 159,961 base pairs, Mendera is T4-like and related most closely to Stenotrophomonas phage IME-SM1.


2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
IQBAL KABIR JAHID ◽  
NA-YOUNG LEE ◽  
ANNA KIM ◽  
SANG-DO HA

Aeromonas hydrophila recently has received increased attention because it is opportunistic and a primary human pathogen. A. hydrophila biofilm formation and its control are a major concern for food safety because biofilms are related to virulence. Therefore, we investigated biofilm formation, motility inhibition, quorum sensing, and exoprotease production of this opportunistic pathogen in response to various glucose concentrations from 0.05 to 2.5% (wt/vol). More than 0.05% glucose significantly impaired (P < 0.05) quorum sensing, biofilm formation, protease production, and swarming and swimming motility, whereas bacteria treated with 0.05% glucose had activity similar to that of the control (0% glucose). A stage shift biofilm assay revealed that the addition of glucose (2.5%) inhibited initial biofilm formation but not later stages. However, addition of quorum sensing molecules N-3-butanoyl-DL-homoserine lactone and N-3-hexanoyl homoserine lactone partially restored protease production, indicating that quorum sensing is controlled by glucose concentrations. Thus, glucose present in food or added as a preservative could regulate acyl-homoserine lactone quorum sensing molecules, which mediate biofilm formation and virulence in A. hydrophila.


Author(s):  
Baopeng Yang ◽  
Yujun Jiang ◽  
Yongxin Jin ◽  
Fang Bai ◽  
Zhihui Cheng ◽  
...  

Polymyxins are considered as the last resort antibiotics to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram negative pathogens. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes various infections in humans. Proteins involved in lipopolysaccharide modification and maintaining inner and outer membrane integrities have been found to contribute to the bacterial resistance to polymyxins. Oligoribonuclease (Orn) is an exonuclease that regulates the homeostasis of intracellular (3'-5')-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP), thereby regulating the production of extracellular polysaccharide in P. aeruginosa . Previously, we demonstrated that Orn affects the bacterial resistance to fluoroquinolone, β-lactam and aminoglycoside antibiotics. In this study, we found that mutation of orn increased the bacterial survival following polymyxin B treatment in a wild type P. aeruginosa strain PA14. Overexpression of c-di-GMP degradation enzymes in the orn mutant reduced the bacterial survival. By using a fluorescence labeled polymyxin B, we found that mutation of orn increased the bacterial surface bound polymyxin B. Deletion of the Pel synthesis genes or treatment with a Pel hydrolase reduced the surface bound polymyxin B and bacterial survival. We further demonstrated that Pel binds to extracellular DNA (eDNA), which traps polymyxin B and thus protects the bacterial cells. Collectively, our results revealed a novel defense mechanism against polymyxin in P. aeruginosa .


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