Relationship between Tolerance and Persistence Mechanisms in Acinetobacter baumannii Strains with AbkAB Toxin-Antitoxin System

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2018 Apr 26;62(5):e00250-18. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00250-18. Print 2018 May.

Abstract

The molecular mechanisms of tolerance and persistence associated with several compounds in Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates are unknown. Using transcriptomic and phenotypic studies, we found a link between mechanisms of bacterial tolerance to chlorhexidine and the development of persistence in the presence of imipenem in an A. baumannii strain belonging to clinical clone ST-2 (OXA-24 β-lactamase and AbkAB toxin-antitoxin [TA] system carried in a plasmid). Interestingly, the strain A. baumannii ATCC 17978 (AbkAB TA system from plasmid) showed persistence in the presence of imipenem and chlorhexidine.

Keywords: Acinetobacter; chlorhexidine; imipenem; persistence; tolerance; toxin-antitoxin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acinetobacter Infections / drug therapy
  • Acinetobacter Infections / microbiology
  • Acinetobacter baumannii / drug effects*
  • Acinetobacter baumannii / genetics*
  • Acinetobacter baumannii / isolation & purification
  • Acinetobacter baumannii / pathogenicity
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Chlorhexidine / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / genetics
  • Drug Tolerance / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Imipenem / therapeutic use*
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Plasmids / genetics
  • Toxin-Antitoxin Systems / genetics*
  • beta-Lactamases / genetics*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Imipenem
  • beta-Lactamases
  • beta-lactamase OXA-24
  • Chlorhexidine