Inactivation of phospholipase D diminishes Acinetobacter baumannii pathogenesis.
Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging bacterial pathogen of considerable health care concern. Nonetheless, relatively little is known about the organism's virulence factors or their regulatory networks. Septicemia and ventilator-associated pneumonia are two of the more severe forms of A. baumannii disease. To identify virulence factors that may contribute to these disease processes, genetically diverse A. baumannii clinical isolates were evaluated for the ability to proliferate in human serum. A transposon mutant library was created in a strain background that propagated well in serum and screened for members with decreased serum growth. The results revealed that disruption of A. baumannii phospholipase D (PLD) caused a reduction in the organism's ability to thrive in serum, a deficiency in epithelial cell invasion, and diminished pathogenesis in a murine model of pneumonia. Collectively, these results suggest that PLD is an A. baumannii virulence factor.
Jacobs
Anna C
AC
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-5900, USA.
Hood
Indriati
I
Boyd
Kelli L
KL
Olson
Patrick D
PD
Morrison
John M
JM
Carson
Steven
S
Sayood
Khalid
K
Iwen
Peter C
PC
Skaar
Eric P
EP
Dunman
Paul M
PM
D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000382:microbiology; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008853:Microscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010739:Phospholipase D / Q000172:deficiency*; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D044967:Serum / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000172:deficiency*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D037521:Virulence Factors; D010739:Phospholipase D