The K1 capsular polysaccharide of Acinetobacter baumannii strain 307-0294 is a major virulence factor.

ABSTRACT: Acinetobacter baumannii is a pathogen of increasing medical importance with a propensity to be multidrug resistant, thereby making treatment challenging. Little is known of virulence traits in A. baumannii. To identify virulence factors and potential drug targets, random transposon (Tn) mutants derived from the A. baumannii strain AB307-0294 were screened to identify genes essential for growth in human ascites fluid in vitro, an inflammatory exudative fluid. These studies led to the identification of two genes that were predicted to be required for capsule polymerization and assembly. The first, ptk, encodes a putative protein tyrosine kinase (PTK), and the second, epsA, encodes a putative polysaccharide export outer membrane protein (EpsA). Monoclonal antibodies used in flow cytometric an

SUBMITTER: Russo TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2937447 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature