Hfq balances energetic efficiency and antibiotic persistence in <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i>.

ABSTRACT: The RNA chaperone Hfq of Acinetobacter baumannii has been documented in altering antibiotic susceptibility and other optimal stress tolerance capabilities of this pathogen. However, the understanding of whether and how Hfq impacts antibiotic persistence remains unexplored in A. baumannii. Consequently, we show that energetic burden on Δhfq cells is imposed due to perturbation of the global transcription of genes, including ones involved in metabolism, secretion systems, and electron transport. As a result, actively growing Δhfq cells demonstrate better survival in the presence of antibiotics with an increased spontaneous persistence phenotype compared with wild-type (WT) cells in the presence of cefepime. Introducing a chromosomal Hfq variant with a mutation in

SUBMITTER: Sett A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12455925 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature