Gene database of Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606

With its natural habitat still under investigation, <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> 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 <i>A. baumannii</i> 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.