Table 2.
Significant virulence factors in A. baumannii strains
| Virulence factors | International Clone I | International Clone II | Function | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. baumannii | A. baumannii | ||||||||||
| AYE | A1 | AB0057 | AB307-0294 | ACICU | MDRTJ | MDR-ZJ06 | TCDC-AB0715 | 1656 | BJAB0868 | ||
| Intl1 | + | + | + | - | + | + | + | + | + | - | Tn21 integrase |
| aadA1 | + | + | + | - | - | + | + | + | Streptomycin adenyltransferase | ||
| Cat | + | + | + | - | - | + | - | - | Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase | ||
| tnpM | + | + | + | - | + | + | + | + | - | - | TnmP |
| tnpA | + | + | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Transposase |
| tnpH | + | + | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | Hypothetical protein | |
| htpB | - | - | - | + | + | - | + | + | + | + | Heat shock protein60 |
| manB | - | - | - | + | + | - | + | + | + | + | Phosphomannumutase |
| pilF | - | - | - | - | + | + | - | - | + | + | Type4 pilus assembly protein |
| tetR | - | - | - | - | - | + | + | + | - | + | Tet repressor |
| tetAB | - | - | - | - | - | + | + | + | - | + | Tetracycline resistance protein |
The signs + and – in the table denote presence or absence of genes, respectively. BLASTp search on Virulence factor database (VFdb) revealed sharing of common virulence factors in A. baumannii strains belonging to the international clone I and II. Virulence factors like Tn21 integrase and streptomycin adenyltransferase are frequently shared by strains of both international clone I and II. Transposases (tnpA, tnpH) and chloramphenicol acetyltransferases are mostly expressed in strains A.baumannii AYE, A.baumannii A1 and A.baumannii 0057 of IC I. Occurrence of specific virulence factors in IC I and IC II illustrates the evolution of the bacteria as the super bug in certain geographical locations and its survival in localized environments