ArticlePLoS pathogens2021
Capsule carbohydrate structure determines virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers.
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed.
- Synergetic attenuated inflammatory response and increased apoptosis confer high pathogenicity ofVirulence · 2026Article
- Personalized Phage Therapy in an ICU Patient with Polymicrobial Pulmonary Infections: a case from a single-arm trial.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting Bacterial Infections: A Broad Review of the Field.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2026Review
- New isolates from the 1970s to early 2000s provide insights into the evolution ofMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- Mobilization of the AbGRI4 resistance island inMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Therapeutic significance of surface-exposed virulence factors in Acinetobacter baumannii pathogenicity.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Multiple prophage acquisition events over the course of an outbreak drive lysogenic conversion of capsular polysaccharides produced by carbapenem-resistantMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Membrane-Focused Strategies AgainstAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Uncovering bacterial pseudaminylation with pan-specific antibody tools.Nature chemical biology · 2026Article
- Loss of capsule confers a growth advantage toMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Identification of multiple Acinetobacter baumannii protein antigens as targets for potential immunotherapies using a novel protein microarray screening approach.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Quorum sensing geneFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Therapeutic strategies against biofilm-associated multidrug-resistantFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Emerging virulent clones of community-onset Acinetobacter baumannii in Taiwan.Tropical medicine and health · 2025Article
- The Road Less Traveled: Exploring the Genomic Characteristics and Antimicrobial Resistance Potential of Acinetobacter baumannii From the Indigenous Orang Asli Community in Peninsular Malaysia.MicrobiologyOpen · 2025Article
- Carbapenem-ResistantMicroorganisms · 2025Review
- Article
- Fast and accurateMicrobial genomics · 2025Article
- HypervirulentAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Structure of K102 Capsular Polysaccharide fromInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii is a highly antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogen for which novel therapeutic approaches are needed. Unfortunately, the drivers of virulence in A. baumannii remain uncertain. By comparing genomes among a panel of A. baumannii strains we identified a specific gene variation in the capsule locus that correlated with altered virulence. While less virulent strains possessed the intact gene gtr6, a hypervirulent clinical isolate contained a spontaneous transposon insertion in the same gene, resulting in the loss of a branchpoint in capsular carbohydrate structure. By constructing isogenic gtr6 mutants, we confirmed that gtr6-disrupted strains were protected from phagocytosis in vitro and displayed higher bacterial burden and lethality in vivo. Gtr6+ strains were phagocytized more readily and caused lower bacterial burden and no clinical illness in vivo. We found that the CR3 receptor mediated phagocytosis of gtr6+, but not gtr6-, strains in a complement-dependent manner. Furthermore, hypovirulent gtr6+ strains demonstrated increased virulence in vivo when CR3 function was abrogated. In summary, loss-of-function in a single capsule assembly gene dramatically altered virulence by inhibiting complement deposition and recognition by phagocytes across multiple A. baumannii strains. Thus, capsular structure can determine virulence among A. baumannii strains by altering bacterial interactions with host complement-mediated opsonophagocytosis.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.