Genetic Diversity of Antimicrobial Resistance and Key Virulence Features in Two Extensively Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates

Massimiliano Marazzato, Daniela Scribano, Meysam Sarshar, Francesca Brunetti, Silvia Fillo, Antonella Fortunato, Florigio Lista, Anna Teresa Palamara, Carlo Zagaglia and Cecilia Ambrosi
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Massimiliano Marazzato: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Daniela Scribano: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Meysam Sarshar: Research Laboratories, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00146 Rome, Italy
Francesca Brunetti: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Silvia Fillo: Scientific Department, Army Medical Center, 00184 Rome, Italy
Antonella Fortunato: Scientific Department, Army Medical Center, 00184 Rome, Italy
Florigio Lista: Scientific Department, Army Medical Center, 00184 Rome, Italy
Anna Teresa Palamara: Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
Carlo Zagaglia: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Cecilia Ambrosi: Department of Human Sciences and Promotion of the Quality of Life, San Raffaele Open University, IRCCS, 00166 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: In recent decades, Acinetobacter baumannii emerged as a major infective menace in healthcare settings due to scarce therapeutic options to treat infections. Therefore, undertaking genome comparison analyses of multi-resistant A. baumannii strains could aid the identification of key bacterial determinants to develop innovative anti-virulence approaches. Following genome sequencing, we performed a molecular characterization of key genes and genomic comparison of two A. baumannii strains, #36 and #150, with selected reference genomes. Despite a different antibiotic resistance gene content, the analyzed strains showed a very similar antibiogram profile. Interestingly, the lack of some important virulence determinants (i.e., bap , ata and omp33 – 36 ) did not abrogate their adhesive abilities to abiotic and biotic surfaces, as reported before; indeed, strains retained these capacities, although to a different extent, suggesting the presence of distinct vicarious genes. Conversely, secretion systems, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), capsule and iron acquisition systems were highly similar to A. baumannii reference strains. Overall, our analyses increased our knowledge on A. baumannii genomic content and organization as well as the genomic events occurring in nosocomial isolates to better fit into changing healthcare environments.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; microbial genomics; multidrug resistance; healthcare infections (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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