Abstract
Acinetobacter haemolyticus is a Gammaproteobacterium that has been involved in serious diseases frequently linked to the nosocomial environment. Most of the strains causing such infections are sensitive to a wide variety of antibiotics, but recent reports indicate that this pathogen is acquiring very efficiently carbapenem-resistance determinants like the blaNDM-1 gene, all over the world. With this work we contribute with a collection set of 31 newly sequenced nosocomial A. haemolyticus isolates. Genome analysis of these sequences and others collected from RefSeq indicates that their chromosomes are organized in 12 syntenic blocks that contain most of the core genome genes. These blocks are separated by hypervariable regions that are rich in unique gene families, but also have signals of horizontal gene transfer. Genes involved in virulence or encoding different secretion systems are located inside syntenic regions and have recombination signals. The relative order of the synthetic blocks along the A. haemolyticus chromosome can change, indicating that they have been subject to several kinds of inversions. Genomes of this microorganism show large differences in gene content even if they are in the same clade. Here we also show that A. haemolyticus has an open pan-genome.
Highlights
Species of Acinetobacter are widespread in nature
To study the genome architecture of the emerging pathogen A. haemolyticus, we constructed a data set consisting of the genome sequences of 31 Mexican isolates described here and a previously sequenced Mexican A. haemolyticus (Bello-López et al, 2019) and 19 putative A. haemolyticus complete genome sequences available in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) RefSeq database (4 of them were finished assemblies), which were isolated from hospitals in different countries
We found that multiple lineages of A. haemolyticus are circulating in Mexican and Chinese hospitals and that Mexican strains are more closely related than strains isolated from other countries
Summary
Species of Acinetobacter are widespread in nature. They can be isolated from different environments, such as soil, water, and food, and as commensals of many animals, including humans (Bouvet and Grimont, 1986; Doughari et al, 2011; Fyhrquist et al, 2014). The Acinetobacter baumannii – Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (ABC) complex is composed of closely related species that cause serious infections in the hospital setting and, less frequently, in the community (GernerSmidt and Tjernberg, 1993; Cosgaya et al, 2016; Nemec et al, 2015). Infection by A. baumannii leads to worse clinical outcomes than those associated with other ABC complex species (Chuang et al, 2011; Fitzpatrick et al, 2015; Chen et al, 2018; Wisplinghoff et al, 2012; Lee et al, 2013; Park et al, 2013)
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