The H-NS Regulator Plays a Role in the Stress Induced by Carbapenemase Expression in Acinetobacter baumannii

  • Huang F
  • Fitchett N
  • Razo-Gutierrez C
  • et al.
13Citations
Citations of this article
25Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) is recognized as one of the most threatening Gram-negative bacilli. H-NS is known to play a role in controlling the transcription of a variety of different genes, including those associated with the stress response, persistence, and virulence. In the present work, we uncovered a link between the role of H-NS in the A. baumannii stress response and its relationship with the envelope stress response and resistance to DNA-damaging agents. Overall, we posit a new role of H-NS, showing that H-NS serves to endure envelope stress and could also be a mechanism that alleviates the stress induced by MBL expression in A. baumannii . This could be an evolutionary advantage to further resist the action of carbapenems. Disruption of the histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) was shown to affect the ability of Gram-negative bacteria to regulate genes associated with virulence, persistence, stress response, quorum sensing, biosynthesis pathways, and cell adhesion. Here, we used the expression of metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs), known to elicit envelope stress by the accumulation of toxic precursors in the periplasm, to interrogate the role of H-NS in Acinetobacter baumannii , together with other stressors. Using a multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strain, we observed that H-NS plays a role in alleviating the stress triggered by MBL toxic precursors and counteracts the effect of DNA-damaging agents, supporting its role in stress response. IMPORTANCE Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) is recognized as one of the most threatening Gram-negative bacilli. H-NS is known to play a role in controlling the transcription of a variety of different genes, including those associated with the stress response, persistence, and virulence. In the present work, we uncovered a link between the role of H-NS in the A. baumannii stress response and its relationship with the envelope stress response and resistance to DNA-damaging agents. Overall, we posit a new role of H-NS, showing that H-NS serves to endure envelope stress and could also be a mechanism that alleviates the stress induced by MBL expression in A. baumannii . This could be an evolutionary advantage to further resist the action of carbapenems.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Huang, F., Fitchett, N., Razo-Gutierrez, C., Le, C., Martinez, J., Ra, G., … Ramirez, M. S. (2020). The H-NS Regulator Plays a Role in the Stress Induced by Carbapenemase Expression in Acinetobacter baumannii. MSphere, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00793-20

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free