Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Author Spotlight: Advancing Antibiotic Resistance Research Using an Efflux-Deficient Bacterial Strain and a Single-Copy Gene Expression System
Published on: January 5, 2024
The mazEF toxin-antitoxin system as a novel antibacterial target in Acinetobacter baumannii
Sobhan Ghafourian1, Liam Good2, Zamberi Sekawi1
1Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Abstract:
Although analysis of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems can be instructive, to date, there is no information on the prevalence and identity of TA systems based on a large panel of Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates. The aim of the current study was to screen for functional TA systems among clinical isolates of A. baumannii and to identify the systems' locations. For this purpose, we screened 85 A. baumannii isolates collected from different clinical sources for the presence of the mazEF, relBE and higBA TA genes. The results revealed that the genes coding for the mazEF TA system were commonly present in all clinical isolates of A. baumannii. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that transcripts were produced in the clinical isolates. Our findings showed that TA genes are prevalent, harboured by chromosomes and transcribed within A. baumannii. Hence, activation of the toxin proteins in the mazEF TA system should be investigated further as an effective antibacterial strategy against this bacterium.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Bacterial Toxins
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Mechanism of Antibiotic Resistance in MRSA
Clinical Significance of Antibiotic Resistance
Defense Against Bacterial Pathogens
Phagocytes
Phagocytes are the frontline soldiers of the immune system. They include neutrophils and macrophages. Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cell and are quickly mobilized to the site of infection. Macrophages are larger cells that patrol...
Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis

