Abstract:
Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are major outer membrane components of Gram-negative bacteria. Unlike most Gram-negative bacteria,
Acinetobacter baumannii can still survive and acquire polymyxin resistance after complete loss of LPS. Previous studies of LPS-deficient
Acinetobacter baumannii mostly focused on LPS-deficient strains induced by polymyxin, whose background was complex and unstable. To investigate LPS loss-mediated polymyxin resistant-
Acinetobacter baumannii, this study constructed a stable and clear background LPS-deficient strain by knocking out
lpxC gene in
Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606 with CIRSPR/Cas9, and then studied the phenotypic changes of the
lpxC-deficient strain including morphology, growth rate, antibiotic susceptibility, virulence, membrane permeability, and membrane potential. Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Welfare Committee Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, CAMS and PUMC (approval number: IMB-20240119D
9). The results indicated that the
lpxC gene of
Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606 was successfully knocked out. After losing the
lpxC, the strain underwent the morphological change from rod-shaped to spherical. Furthermore, it leads to reduced growth rate, enhanced membrane permeability, decreased membrane potential, lower virulence, and increased antibiotic susceptibility to
β-lactams, quinolones, aminoglycosides, macrolides, glycopeptides. The
lpxC deletion results in significant changes in membrane homeostasis and adaptability of
Acinetobacter baumannii. Understanding the phenotypic changes of colistin-resistant
Acinetobacter baumannii mediated by LPS loss is useful for exploring the resistance mechanism of
Acinetobacter baumannii and developing new therapeutic strategies.