Scarless excision of an insertion sequence restores capsule production and virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii
Clémence Whiteway1,2, Adam Valcek1,2, Chantal Philippe3
1Microbial Resistance and Drug Discovery, VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology, VIB, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Brussels, Belgium.
The ISME Journal
|December 24, 2021
Abstract:
We identify a new mechanism mediating capsule production and virulence in the WHO and CDC priority ESKAPE pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii. Non-capsulated and avirulent bacteria can revert into a capsulated and virulent state upon scarless excision of an ISAba13 insertion sequence under stress conditions. Reversion events fully restore capsule production and in vivo virulence. This increases our knowledge about A. baumannii genome dynamics, and the regulation of capsule production, virulence and resistance.
