Horizontal gene transfer and assortative recombination within the Acinetobacter baumannii clinical population provide genetic diversity at the single carO gene, encoding a major outer membrane protein channel.

ABSTRACT: We described previously the presence in Acinetobacter baumannii of a novel outer membrane (OM) protein, CarO, which functions as an L-ornithine OM channel and whose loss was concomitant with increased carbapenem resistance among clonally related nosocomial isolates of this opportunistic pathogen. Here, we describe the existence of extensive genetic diversity at the carO gene within the A. baumannii clinical population. The systematic analysis of carO sequences from A. baumannii isolates obtained from public hospitals in Argentina revealed the existence of four highly polymorphic carO variants among them. Sequence polymorphism between the different A. baumannii CarO variants was concentrated in three well-defined protein regions that superimposed mostly to predicted surface-exposed loops. P

SUBMITTER: Mussi MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3165691 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature