The genetic analysis of Acinetobacter johnsonii clinical strain evidenced the presence of horizontal genetic transfer

MONTAÑA SABRINA; KEVIN CHIEM; CLAUDIA BARBERIS; MARCELO TOMALSKY; MONTAÑA SABRINA; KEVIN CHIEM; CLAUDIA BARBERIS; MARCELO TOMALSKY; GERMAN M. TRAGLIA; ALMUZARA M; QUIROGA CECILIA; MARIA S. RAMIREZ; GERMAN M. TRAGLIA; ALMUZARA M; QUIROGA CECILIA; MARIA S. RAMIREZ; SCHRAMM SEREDA; DI NOTO PARMECIANO GISELA; CARLOS A. VAY; IRIARTE ANDRES; SCHRAMM SEREDA; DI NOTO PARMECIANO GISELA; CARLOS A. VAY; IRIARTE ANDRES

PLOS ONE

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2016

1932-6203

Acinetobacter johnsonii rarely causes human infections. While most A. johnsonii isolates are susceptible to virtually all antibiotics, strains harboring a variety of β-lactamases have recently been described. An A. johnsonii Aj2199 clinical strain recovered from a hospital in Buenos Aires produces PER-2 and OXA-58. We decided to delve into its genome by obtain- ing the whole genome sequence of the Aj2199 strain. Genome comparison studies on Aj2199 revealed 240 unique genes and a close relation to strain WJ10621, isolated from the urine of a patient in China. Genomic analysis showed evidence of horizontal genetic transfer (HGT) events. Forty-five insertion sequences and two intact prophages were found in addi- tion to several resistance determinants such as blaPER-2, blaOXA-58, blaTEM-1, strA, strB, ereA, sul1, aacC2 and a new variant of blaOXA-211, called blaOXA-498. In particular, blaPER-2 and bla- TEM-1 are present within the typical contexts previously described in the Enterobacteriaceae family. These results suggest that A. johnsonii actively acquires exogenous DNA from other bacterial species and concomitantly becomes a reservoir of resistance genes.