Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Dec 28;8(1):12.
doi: 10.3390/genes8010012.

Genetic Regulation of Virulence and Antibiotic Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii

Carsten Kröger  1 , Stefani C Kary  2 , Kristina Schauer  3 , Andrew D S Cameron  4
Affiliations
Review

Genetic Regulation of Virulence and Antibiotic Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii

Carsten Kröger et al. Genes (Basel). .

Abstract

Multidrug resistant microorganisms are forecast to become the single biggest challenge to medical care in the 21st century. Over the last decades, members of the genus Acinetobacter have emerged as bacterial opportunistic pathogens, in particular as challenging nosocomial pathogens because of the rapid evolution of antimicrobial resistances. Although we lack fundamental biological insight into virulence mechanisms, an increasing number of researchers are working to identify virulence factors and to study antibiotic resistance. Here, we review current knowledge regarding the regulation of virulence genes and antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii. A survey of the two-component systems AdeRS, BaeSR, GacSA and PmrAB explains how each contributes to antibiotic resistance and virulence gene expression, while BfmRS regulates cell envelope structures important for pathogen persistence. A. baumannii uses the transcription factors Fur and Zur to sense iron or zinc depletion and upregulate genes for metal scavenging as a critical survival tool in an animal host. Quorum sensing, nucleoid-associated proteins, and non-classical transcription factors such as AtfA and small regulatory RNAs are discussed in the context of virulence and antibiotic resistance.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; antibiotic resistance; metal acquisition; multidrug efflux pumps; two-component systems; virulence gene regulation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding sponsors had no role in the writing of the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of the impact of five Acinetobacter baumannii two-component systems on gene expression of selected genomic loci. LPS: lipopolysaccharide.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brown E.D., Wright G.D. Antibacterial drug discovery in the resistance era. Nature. 2016;529:336–343. doi: 10.1038/nature17042. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tommasi R., Brown D.G., Walkup G.K., Manchester J.I., Miller A.A. ESKAPEing the labyrinth of antibacterial discovery. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 2015;14:529–542. doi: 10.1038/nrd4572. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boucher H.W., Talbot G.H., Bradley J.S., Edwards J.E., Gilbert D., Rice L.B., Scheld M., Spellberg B., Bartlett J. Bad Bugs, No Drugs: No ESKAPE! An Update from the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin. Infect. Dis. 2009;48:1–12. doi: 10.1086/595011. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rice L.B. Federal Funding for the Study of Antimicrobial Resistance in Nosocomial Pathogens: No ESKAPE. J. Infect. Dis. 2008;197:1079–1081. doi: 10.1086/533452. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Spellberg B., Bonomo R.A. The Deadly Impact of Extreme Drug Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii. Crit. Care Med. 2014;42:1289–1291. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000000181. - DOI - PMC - PubMed