The physiological role of Acinetobacter baumannii DacC is exerted through influencing cell shape, biofilm formation, the fitness of survival and manifesting DD-carboxypeptidase and beta-lactamase dual-enzyme activities

Abstract With the growing threat of drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, there is an urgent need to comprehensively understand the physiology of this nosocomial pathogen. As penicillin-binding proteins are attractive targets for antibacterial therapy, we have tried to explore the physiological roles of two putative DD-carboxypeptidases, viz., DacC and DacD, in A. baumannii. Surprisingly, the deletion of dacC resulted in a reduced growth rate, loss of rod-shaped morphology, reduction in biofilm-forming ability, and enhanced susceptibility towards beta-lactams. In contrast, the deletion of dacD had no such effect. Interestingly, ectopic expression of dacC restored the lost phenotypes. The ∆dacCD mutant showed properties similar to the ∆dacC mutant. Conversely, in vitro enzyme kinetics assessments reveal that DacD is a stronger DD-CPase than DacC. Finally, we conclude that DacC might have DD-CPase and beta-lactamase activities, whereas DacD is a strong DD-CPase.