Relationship between tolerance and persistence mechanisms in Acinetobacter baumannii strains with AbkAB Toxin-Antitoxin system

Unknown are the mechanisms of tolerance and persistence associated to several compounds in A.baumannii clinical isolates. Using transcriptomical and microbiological studies, we found a link between bacterial tolerance mechanisms to clorhexidine as well as the development of persistence in presence of imipenem in an A.baumannii strain belonging to ST-2 clinical clone (carbapenem-resistant with OXA-24 ß-lactamase and AbkAB TA system by plasmid). Interestingly, in A.baumannii ATCC17978 strain (carbapenem-susceptible isolate which carries AbkAB TA system by plasmid) showed persistence in presence of imipenem. Overall design: Medium of four replicates (4 samples and 4 controls) from RNA of the Ab-2_clon_2010 strain (belonging ST-2 clone) x 1 condition (exposure to CHLX). Statistical analysis by DESeq2 and EdgeR