(American Society for Microbiology, 2020-08-26) Huang, Fanny; Fitchett, Noelle; Razo Gutiérrez, Chelsea; Le, Casin; Martínez, Jasmine; Ra, Grace; López, Carolina; González, Lisandro Javier; Sieira, Rodrigo; Vila, Alejandro J.; Bonomo, Robert A.; Ramírez, María Soledad; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9904-7890
Disruption of the histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) was shown to affect the ability of Gram-negative bacteria to regulate genes associated with virulence, persistence, stress response, quorum sensing, biosynthesis pathways, and cell adhesion. Here, we used the expression of metallo--lactamases (MBLs), known to elicit envelope stress by the accumulation of toxic precursors in the periplasm, to interrogate the role of H-NS in Acinetobacter baumannii, together with other stressors. Using a multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strain, we observed that H-NS plays a role in alleviating the stress triggered by MBL toxic precursors and counteracts the effect of DNA-damaging agents, supporting its role in stress response.