title: Whole-genome pyrosequencing of an epidemic multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strain belonging to the European clone II group.
abstract: The whole-genome sequence of an epidemic, multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strain (strain ACICU) belonging to the European clone II group and carrying the plasmid-mediated bla(OXA)(-)(58) carbapenem resistance gene was determined. The A. baumannii ACICU genome was compared with the genomes of A. baumannii ATCC 17978 and Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, with the aim of identifying novel genes related to virulence and drug resistance. A. baumannii ACICU has a single chromosome of 3,904,116 bp (which is predicted to contain 3,758 genes) and two plasmids, pACICU1 and pACICU2, of 28,279 and 64,366 bp, respectively. Genome comparison showed 86.4% synteny with A. baumannii ATCC 17978 and 14.8% synteny with A. baylyi ADP1. A conspicuous number of transporters belonging to different superfamilies was predicted for A. baumannii ACICU. The relative number of transporters was much higher in ACICU than in ATCC 17978 and ADP1 (76.2, 57.2, and 62.5 transporters per Mb of genome, respectively). An antibiotic resistance island, AbaR2, was identified in ACICU and had plausibly evolved by reductive evolution from the AbaR1 island previously described in multiresistant strain A. baumannii AYE. Moreover, 36 putative alien islands (pAs) were detected in the ACICU genome; 24 of these had previously been described in the ATCC 17978 genome, 4 are proposed here for the first time and are present in both ATCC 17978 and ACICU, and 8 are unique to the ACICU genome. Fifteen of the pAs in the ACICU genome encode genes related to drug resistance, including membrane transporters and ex novo acquired resistance genes. These findings provide novel insight into the genetic basis of A. baumannii resistance.
authors.affiliation: National Research Council, Segrate, Milan 20090, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iacono
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fortini
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bordoni
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Imperi
authors.forename: Raoul J P
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bonnal
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sicheritz-Ponten
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Bellis
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Visca
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cassone
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carattoli
mesh_terms: D000150:Acinetobacter / Q000235:genetics; D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins