Insights into the resistome, mobilome and virulome of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii nosocomial and aquatic isolates from Romania
Project Director: Conf. univ. Dr. Irina Gheorghe-Barbu
Project code: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1515
Contract number: TE 112
Project title: Investigarea resistomului, mobilomului ṣi virulomului la tulpini multirezistente nosocomiale ṣi acvatice de Acinetobacter baumannii în România
Project Acronym: TITANIA
Project Duration: 24 luni
The total buget of the project: 450.000,00
The starting date of the contract: 13/05/2022
The date of conclusion of the contract: 12/05/2024
Abstract
Sewage water constitutes a particularly nutrient rich environment for bacteria and hotspots for horizontal gene transfer, via mobile genetic elements (MGE) enabling the development and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) between bacterial species. The project aims to investigate the beta-lactam resistome, mobilome and virulome in multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR AB) strains isolated from different geographical regions, for 4 years consecutively, in the same temporal sequence from intra-hospital infections, wastewater and surface water network from different geographic regions of Romania, and to highlight the role of plasmids in mediating the dissemination of ARGs and virulence markers (VMs) between the nosocomial sector and different environmental aquatic compartments, including fish microbiota. The resistance profiles of the the isolated strains will be investigated in the current project according to CLSI guidelines. ARGs, MGE and VMs will be checked by PCR and sequencing. Molecular methods (PGFE / ERIC-PCR and MLST) will be used to determine the circulating clones among hospitals and different aquatic environment compartments and their horizontal transfer will be assessed by conjugation. The relatioships between the resistome, mobilome and virulome in MDR AB will be analysed by next generation sequencing and next-next generation sequencing, as well as by a metagenomic approach to identify the carrying plasmids of ARGs and VMs.
Project Objective:
Analysis of the resistome, mobilome and virulome of MDR extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and carbapenemase producing (CP) AB isolates from hospital settings, hospital sewage, wastewaters and surface waters from different geographic Romanian regions and design the first tool for the study of ARGs/VMs of AB carrying plasmids in Romania./span>
Estimated results
This project will offer the first map by geographical regions of plasmids carrying ARGs and VMs in MDR CP ESBL AB clinical versus environmental strains in Romania and among the first Romanian metagenomic data on the environmental resistome, mobilome and virulome. The genomic and metagenomic approaches could identify new genetic determinants of AR, mobilome and virulome in AB and will allow establishing the first national tool for monitoring the ARGs and VMs occurrence and dynamics in the aquatic environments.
Phase I Summary can be accessed HERE
Phase II Summary and the results dissemination can be accessed HERE
Phase III Summary and the results dissemination can be accessed HERE
