Heme uptake and utilization by hypervirulent Acinetobacter baumannii LAC-4 is dependent on a canonical heme oxygenase (abHemO).

ABSTRACT: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen that causes serious infections in critically ill and immune compromised patients. The ability to acquire iron from the hosts iron and heme containing proteins is critical to their survival and virulence. The majority of A. baumannii hypervirulent strains encode a heme uptake system that includes a putative heme oxygenase (hemO). Despite reports indicating A. baumannii can grow on heme direct evidence of extracellular heme uptake and metabolism has not been shown. Through isotopic labeling (¹³C-heme) we show the hypervirulent A. baumannii LAC-4 metabolizes heme to biliverdin IXα (BVIXα), whereas ATC 17978 that lacks the hemO gene cluster cannot efficiently utilize heme. Expression and purification of the protein encoded by the

SUBMITTER: Giardina BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6718340 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature