TY - JOUR
T1 - Virulence factors are preserved within carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clades
AU - On Behalf of the AIDA Study Group
AU - Lurie-Weinberger, Mor N.
AU - Cohen, Adi
AU - Kon, Hadas
AU - Kastel, Ophir
AU - Keren-Paz, Alona
AU - Schwartz, David
AU - Lellouche, Jonathan
AU - Nutman, Amir
AU - Frenk, Sammy
AU - Schechner, Vered
AU - Temkin, Elizabeth
AU - Friberg, Lena E.
AU - Daikos, George L.
AU - Skiada, Anna
AU - Durante-Mangoni, Emanuele
AU - Yahav, Dafna
AU - Leibovici, Leonard
AU - Dickstein, Yaakov
AU - Dishon Benattar, Yael
AU - Paul, Mical
AU - Carmeli, Yehuda
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is an important threat to hospitalized patients. The virulence of A. baumannii varies between strains and geographic locations, which is believed to be related to its genetic plasticity. A comprehensive evaluation of virulence factor (VF) content of CRAB across genetically related clones is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to determine the evolution of VFs among 246 CRAB isolates belonging to major STs, ST2 and ST3. We used WGS to assess 136 VFs and found that 110 VFs were present in most isolates (49 VFs were universally present, 61 were ubiquitous) and 25 occurred sporadically. The distribution of the 25 sporadic VF genes was homogenous in ST3 but heterogeneous in ST2. Within ST2, we found high intra-clade homogeneity and high inter-clade heterogeneity of VFs. The homogeneity of VF content in ST2 clades and its uniformity in ST3 suggest a distant evolutionary segregation of VFs at the root of ST/clade divergence. VF content reflects remote events resulting in minimal variation between isolates belonging to the same ST/clade. Thus, the alleged differences in virulence of CRAB strains between geographical locations reflect differences in clonal distribution.
AB - Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is an important threat to hospitalized patients. The virulence of A. baumannii varies between strains and geographic locations, which is believed to be related to its genetic plasticity. A comprehensive evaluation of virulence factor (VF) content of CRAB across genetically related clones is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to determine the evolution of VFs among 246 CRAB isolates belonging to major STs, ST2 and ST3. We used WGS to assess 136 VFs and found that 110 VFs were present in most isolates (49 VFs were universally present, 61 were ubiquitous) and 25 occurred sporadically. The distribution of the 25 sporadic VF genes was homogenous in ST3 but heterogeneous in ST2. Within ST2, we found high intra-clade homogeneity and high inter-clade heterogeneity of VFs. The homogeneity of VF content in ST2 clades and its uniformity in ST3 suggest a distant evolutionary segregation of VFs at the root of ST/clade divergence. VF content reflects remote events resulting in minimal variation between isolates belonging to the same ST/clade. Thus, the alleged differences in virulence of CRAB strains between geographical locations reflect differences in clonal distribution.
KW - Acinetobacter baumannii
KW - antibiotic resistance
KW - carbapenem resistance
KW - evolution
KW - virulence factors
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015290816
U2 - 10.1080/21505594.2025.2542489
DO - 10.1080/21505594.2025.2542489
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C2 - 40849900
AN - SCOPUS:105015290816
SN - 2150-5594
VL - 16
JO - Virulence
JF - Virulence
IS - 1
M1 - 2542489
ER -