2-Hydroxylation of Acinetobacter baumannii Lipid A Contributes to Virulence.

ABSTRACT: Acinetobacter baumannii causes a wide range of nosocomial infections. This pathogen is considered a threat to human health due to the increasingly frequent isolation of multidrug-resistant strains. There is a major gap in knowledge on the infection biology of A. baumannii, and only a few virulence factors have been characterized, including lipopolysaccharide. The lipid A expressed by A. baumannii is hepta-acylated and contains 2-hydroxylaurate. The late acyltransferases controlling the acylation of lipid A have been already characterized. Here, we report the characterization of A. baumannii LpxO, which encodes the enzyme responsible for the 2-hydroxylation of lipid A. By genetic methods and mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that LpxO catalyzes the 2-hydroxylatio

SUBMITTER: Bartholomew TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6434125 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature