Acinetobacter baumannii Regulates Its Stress Responses via the BfmRS Two-Component Regulatory System
Samantha Palethorpe, John M. Farrow, Greg Wells, Morgan E. Milton, Luis A. Actis, John Cavanagh, Everett C. Pesci
Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen that has extremely high rates of multidrug resistance. This organism's ability to endure stressful conditions is a key part of its ability to spread in the hospital environment and cause infections. Unlike other members of the gammaproteobacteria, A. baumannii does not encode a homolog of the RpoS sigma factor to coordinate its stress response. Here, we demonstrate that the BfmRS two-component system directly controls the expression of multiple stress resistance genes. Our findings suggest that BfmRS is central to a unique scheme of general stress response regulation by A. baumannii.