Iron-Regulated Phospholipase C Activity Contributes to the Cytolytic Activity and Virulence of Acinetobacter baumannii.

ABSTRACT: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic Gram-negative pathogen that causes a wide range of infections including pneumonia, septicemia, necrotizing fasciitis and severe wound and urinary tract infections. Analysis of A. baumannii representative strains grown in Chelex 100-treated medium for hemolytic activity demonstrated that this pathogen is increasingly hemolytic to sheep, human and horse erythrocytes, which interestingly contain increasing amounts of phosphatidylcholine in their membranes. Bioinformatic, genetic and functional analyses of 19 A. baumannii isolates showed that the genomes of each strain contained two phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) genes, which were named plc1 and plc2. Accordingly, all of these strains were significantly hemolytic to horse eryth

SUBMITTER: Fiester SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5119829 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature