title: A new trilocus sequence-based multiplex-PCR to detect major Acinetobacter baumannii clones.
abstract: A collection of 163 Acinetobacter baumannii isolates detected in a large Brazilian hospital, was potentially related with the dissemination of four clonal complexes (CC): 113/79, 103/15, 109/1 and 110/25, defined by University of Oxford/Institut Pasteur multilocus sequence typing (MLST) schemes. The urge of a simple multiplex-PCR scheme to specify these clones has motivated the present study. The established trilocus sequence-based typing (3LST, for ompA, csuE and blaOXA-51-like genes) multiplex-PCR rapidly identifies international clones I (CC109/1), II (CC118/2) and III (CC187/3). Thus, the system detects only one (CC109/1) out of four main CC in Brazil. We aimed to develop an alternative multiplex-PCR scheme to detect these clones, known to be present additionally in Africa, Asia, Europe, USA and South America. MLST, performed in the present study to complement typing our whole collection of isolates, confirmed that all isolates belonged to the same four CC detected previously. When typed by 3LST-based multiplex-PCR, only 12% of the 163 isolates were classified into groups. By comparative sequence analysis of ompA, csuE and blaOXA-51-like genes, a set of eight primers was designed for an alternative multiplex-PCR to distinguish the five CC 113/79, 103/15, 109/1, 110/25 and 118/2. Study isolates and one CC118/2 isolate were blind-tested with the new alternative PCR scheme; all were correctly clustered in groups of the corresponding CC. The new multiplex-PCR, with the advantage of fitting in a single reaction, detects five leading A. baumannii clones and could help preventing the spread in healthcare settings.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: natachamartins@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: renata.picao@micro.ufrj.br.
authors.forename: Renata Cristina
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Picão
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: mcerqueira@ufrj.br.
authors.forename: Morgana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerqueira-Alves
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: aline_uehara@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: livia_cb@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Lívia Carvalho
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Electronic address: lwriley@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Lee W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: bmeurer@micro.ufrj.br.
authors.forename: Beatriz Meurer
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Moreira
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001938:Brazil; D002999:Clone Cells; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D015870:Gene Expression; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D010802:Phylogeny; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; C078167:OMPA outer membrane proteins; D001618:beta-Lactamases; C577373:beta-lactamase OXA-51, Acinetobacter baumannii
keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; International clones; MLST; Molecular epidemiology; Multiplex-PCR