Gene database of Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606

With its natural habitat still under
investigation, Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative, small, round,
rod-shaped bacterium that has been increasingly associated with nosocomial
infections in hospitals, with particular prevalence in immunocompromised patients.
Lacking a flagella, the bacterium nevertheless exhibits twitching and swarming
motility which likely arise due to the presence of Type IV pili on the cell
surface. Motility of the bacterium could also have been aided by the secretion
of a layer of exopolysaccharides on the cell surface that serve as lubricants.
This work sought to illuminate the genetic repertoire of A. baumannii
ATCC 19606 by parsing its annotated genome sequence from Genbank through an
in-house MATLAB software. Comprising gene name, gene function and gene
sequence, the database should find use in understanding the molecular players
endowed in the bacterium, particularly those relevant to pathophysiological
processes. More importantly, gene sequences catalogued could inform efforts at
using loss-of-function approaches aided by genome editing to help dissect the
molecular dialogue between different effectors during pathogenesis.