Abstract
The rapid emergence of extensively drug-resistant A.baumannii has posed a major threat to global public health, emphasizing the desperate need for novel therapeutic strategies. We report the development of a highly efficient genome-engineering platform in A.baumannii by coupling a Cas9 nuclease-mediated genome cleavage system with the RecAb recombination system. We applied the CRISPR-Cas9/RecAb system to dissect the oxidative stress-sensing mechanism of OxyR by performing alanine scanning mutagenesis of 13 residues residing in the H2O2-sensing pocket, pinpointing new vital factors for H2O2 sensing. Moreover, we developed a cytidine base-editing system, enabling programmed C to T conversions. Exploiting this powerful technique, we systematically investigated the drug-resistant mechanisms in a clinically isolated multidrug-resistant A.baumannii strain by generating premature stop codons in the possible resistance genes, unveiling distinct roles of these genes in drug resistance. The development of these genome-engineering methods will facilitate new therapeutic-means development in A.baumannii and related organisms.
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