Dataset Information

Intercellular Transfer of Chromosomal Antimicrobial Resistance Genes between Acinetobacter baumannii Strains Mediated by Prophages.

ABSTRACT: The spread of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) among Gram-negative pathogens, including Acinetobacter baumannii, is primarily mediated by transferable plasmids; however, ARGs are frequently integrated into its chromosome. How ARG gets horizontally incorporated into the chromosome of A. baumannii, and whether it functions as a cause for further spread of ARG, remains unknown. Here, we demonstrated intercellular prophage-mediated transfer of chromosomal ARGs without direct cell-cell interaction in A. baumannii We prepared ARG-harboring extracellular DNA (eDNA) components from the culture supernatant of a multidrug-resistant (MDR) A. baumannii NU-60 strain and exposed an antimicrobial-susceptible (AS) A. baumannii ATCC 17978 strain to the eDNA components. The antimicrobial-resistant (AR) A. baumannii ATCC 17978 derivatives appeared to acquire various ARGs, originating from dispersed loci of the MDR A. baumannii chromosome, along with their surrounding regions, by homologous recombination, with the ARGs including armA (aminoglycoside resistance), bla TEM-1 (?-lactam resistance), tet(B) (tetracycline resistance), and gyrA-81L (nalidixic acid resistance) genes. Notably, the eDNAs conferring antimicrobial resistance were enveloped in specific capsid proteins consisting of phage particles, thereby protecting the eDNAs from detergent and DNase treatments. The phages containing ARGs were likely released into the extracellular space from MDR A. baumannii, thereby transducing ARGs into AS A. baumannii, resulting in the acquisition of AR properties by the recipient. We concluded that the generalized transduction, in which phages were capable of carrying random pieces of A. baumannii genomic DNAs, enabled efficacious intercellular transfer of chromosomal ARGs between A. baumannii strains without direct cell-cell interaction.

SUBMITTER: Wachino JI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6658751 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Intercellular Transfer of Chromosomal Antimicrobial Resistance Genes between Acinetobacter baumannii Strains Mediated by Prophages.

Wachino Jun-Ichi JI Jin Wanchun W Kimura Kouji K Arakawa Yoshichika Y

Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 20190725 8

The spread of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) among Gram-negative pathogens, including <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i>, is primarily mediated by transferable plasmids; however, ARGs are frequently integrated into its chromosome. How ARG gets horizontally incorporated into the chromosome of <i>A. baumannii</i>, and whether it functions as a cause for further spread of ARG, remains unknown. Here, we demonstrated intercellular prophage-mediated transfer of chromosomal ARGs without direct cell- ...[more]

PMID: 31138576

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen with a notorious reputation of being resistant to antimicrobial agents. The capability of A. baumannii to persist and disseminate between healthcare settings has raised a major concern worldwide. METHODS:Our study investigated the antibiotic resistance features and molecular epidemiology of 52 clinical isolates of A. baumannii collected in Pakistan between 2013 and 2015. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were determined by the agar disc diffusion method. Comparative sequence analyses of the ampC and blaOXA-51-like alleles were used to assign the isolates into clusters. The whole genomes of 25 representative isolates were sequenced using the MiSeq Desktop Sequencer. Free online applications were used to determine the phylogeny of genomic sequences, retrieve the multilocus sequence types (ST), and detect acquired antimicrobial resistance genes. RESULTS:Overall, the isolates were grouped into 7 clusters and 3 sporadic isolates. The largest cluster, Ab-Pak-cluster-1 (blaOXA-66 and ISAba1-ampC-19) included 24 isolates, belonged to ST2 and International clone (IC) II, and was distributed between two geographical far-off cities, Lahore and Peshawar. Ab-Pak-clusters-2 (blaOXA-66, ISAba1-ampC-2), and -3 (blaOXA-66, ISAba1-ampC-20) and the individual isolate Ab-Pak-Lah-01 (ISAba1-blaOXA-66, ISAba1-ampC-2) were also assigned to ST2 and IC II. On the other hand, Ab-Pak-clusters-4 (blaOXA-69, ampC-1), -5 (blaOXA-69, ISAba1-ampC-78), and -6A (blaOXA-371, ISAba1-ampC-3) belonged to ST1, while Ab-Pak-cluster-6B (blaOXA-371, ISAba1-ampC-8) belonged to ST1106, with both ST1 and ST1106 being members of IC I. Five isolates belonged to Ab-Pak-cluster-7 (blaOXA-65, ampC-43). This cluster corresponded to ST158, showed a well-delineated position on the genomic phylogenetic tree, and was equipped with several antimicrobial resistance genes including blaOXA-23 and blaGES-11. CONCLUSIONS:Our study detected the occurrence of 7 clusters of A. baumannii in Pakistan. Altogether, 6/7 of the clusters and 45/52 (86.5%) of the isolates belonged to IC I (n?=?9) or II (n?=?36), making Pakistan no exception to the global domination of these two clones. The onset of ST158 in Pakistan marked a geographical dispersal of this clone beyond the Middle East and brought up the need for a detailed characterization.

Dataset Information

Intercellular Transfer of Chromosomal Antimicrobial Resistance Genes between Acinetobacter baumannii Strains Mediated by Prophages.

Publications

Intercellular Transfer of Chromosomal Antimicrobial Resistance Genes between Acinetobacter baumannii Strains Mediated by Prophages.

Similar Datasets

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