Biología integrada de la infección y resistencia antimicrobiana de acinetobacter baumannii" y "acinetobacter pittii

Abstract

Acinetobacter is a Gram negative bacterial genus, some of them being relevant human pathogens as cause of nosocomial infections (pneumonia, bacteraemia). Their treatment is a challenge in the clinical practice since they are capable of acquiring resistance to most antimicrobials in a fast way, as well as to disinfectants and biocides. In addition, they have a great capacity for survival and persistence in the environment, being able to survive in desiccation and starvation for long time, thus allowing the bacterial dissemination. The objective of the present work was both to study the survival capacity of A. baumannii and A. pittii clinical strains under unfavourable conditions and to know if their virulence is affected after long periods of stress; as well as to perform a genomic analysis of the strains. Acinetobacter strains were able to survive for weeks under stress conditions despite not showing survival strategies or reduction of their virulence. Moreover, they showed a high genomic homology and a large repertoire of resistance determinants. Both the presence and the size of plasmids between the strains were variable.