ppGpp signaling plays a critical role in virulence of Acinetobacter baumannii

Virulence

Daejin Lim¹  Kwangsoo Kim¹  Sung-Gwon Lee²  Chungoo Park²  Kyeongmin Kim³  Maidul Islam³  Minsang Shin³  Hye-won Jung³  Je Chul Lee³ 

[1] Chonnam National University Medical School;School of Biological Sciences and Technology, Chonnam National University;School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University;

关键词: acinetobacter baumannii;    ppgpp;    transcriptome;    biofilm;    virulence;   

DOI  :  10.1080/21505594.2021.1961660

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Acinetobacter baumannii, a major nosocomial pathogen, survives in diverse hospital environments, and its multidrug resistance is a major concern. The ppGpp-dependent stringent response mediates the reprogramming of genes with diverse functions in several bacteria. We investigated whether ppGpp is involved in A. baumannii’s pathogenesis by examining biofilm formation, surface motility, adhesion, invasion, and mouse infection studies. Transcriptome analysis of early stationary phase cultures revealed 498 differentially-expressed genes (≥ 2-fold change) in a ppGpp-deficient A. baumannii strain; 220 and 278 genes were up and downregulated, respectively. Csu operon expression, important in pilus biosynthesis during early biofilm formation, was significantly reduced in the ppGpp-deficient strain. Our findings suggest that ppGpp signaling influences A. baumannii biofilm formation, surface motility, adherence, and virulence. We showed the association between ppGpp and pathogenicity in A. baumannii for the first time; ppGpp may be a novel antivirulence target in A. baumannii.

【 授权许可】

Unknown