Antimicrobial Resistance Determinants in Genomes and Plasmids from Acinetobacter baumannii Clinical Isolates

Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative coccoid rod species, clinically relevant as a human pathogen, included in the ESKAPE group. Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) are considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a critical priority pathogen for the research and development of new antibiotics. Some of the most relevant features of this pathogen are its intrinsic multidrug resistance and its ability to acquire rapid and effective new resistant determinants against last-resort clinical antibiotics, mostly from other ESKAPE species. The presence of plasmids and mobile genetic elements in their genomes contributes to the acquisition of new antimicrobial resistance determinants. However, although A. baumannii has arisen as an important human pathogen, information about these elements is still not well understood. Current genomic analysis availability has increased our ability to understand the microevolution of bacterial pathogens, including point mutations, genetic dissemination, genomic stability, and pan- and core-genome compositions. In this work, we deeply studied the genomes of four clinical strains from our hospital, and the reference strain ATCC(R)19606(TM), which have shown a remarkable ability to survive and maintain their effective capacity when subjected to long-term stress conditions. With that, our aim was presenting a detailed analysis of their genomes, including antibiotic resistance determinants and plasmid composition.

Automated summary

Acinetobacter baumannii, a clinically relevant human pathogen belonging to the ESKAPE group, is known for its intrinsic multidrug resistance and ability to acquire new resistant determinants. Genomic analysis has provided insights into the microevolution of this pathogen and its antibiotic resistance mechanisms.