Genomic Diversity and Antimicrobial Resistance of Acinetobacter sp.-A Pan Genome Analysis

Acinetobacter baumannii has been associated with severe clinically acquired infections. The prevalence of non-A. baumannii-linked diseases is now equivalent to that of A. baumannii-associated illnesses. Hence, this study intends to explore the genomic linkage of virulence and antibiotic resistance amongst the five Acinetobacter spp. (A. baumannii, A. haemolyticus, A. johnsonni, and A. nosocomialis) using pan genome analysis. The results revealed open pan genome in Acinetobacter sp. with increase in number of additional genes in pan genome. The resistance gene identifier revealed that A. baumannii was resistant to macrolides, fluoroquinolone, lincosamide, carbapenem, cephalosporin, tetracycline, rifamycin, diaminopyrimidine, phenicol antibiotics, and penem. Non-A. baumannii sp. A. haemolyticus had the Oxa beta lactamase gene (Oxa) with resistance to carbapenem, cephalosporin, penem. A. johnsonii had no perfect hits for resistance but showed weak similarity to Oxa. A. nosocomialis had resistance genes to fluoroquinoids. The prevalence of Acinetobacter baumannii AbaQ gene was found with A. calcoaceticus and A. nosocomialis sequences used in this study supporting the transformation of resistance genes between Acinetobacter sp. This comparative research underlines the need of differentiating between distinct Acinetobacter sp. infections with their genetic profile for accurate diagnosis and management based on their anti microbial resistance.