Effect of Sodium Chloride on Surface-Associated Motility of Acinetobacter baumannii and the Role of AdeRS Two-Component System

Acinetobacter baumannii is an important bacterial pathogen whose resistance to antibiotics is a growing concern worldwide. Among a wide array of resistance mechanisms displayed by A. baumannii, energy-dependent efflux of antibiotics by proteins belonging the resistance-nodulation-division family serves as an important one. AdeABC pump has been shown to be active in various clinical isolates. Regulation of this pump is controlled by the AdeRS two-component system. In this study, we show that the AdeRS system, in addition to modulating A. baumannii's antibiotic susceptibility, also plays a role in biofilm formation as well as surface-associated motility. We also show that AdeRS deletion mutant is more sensitive to saline stress. In particular, motility of A. baumannii ATCC17978 on agar surface is severely hampered at higher salt concentrations when AdeRS system is absent. Therefore, our study shows that AdeRS could be part of the A. baumannii adaptation strategy to salinity stress.