Abstract 1831 Investigating the Pathway Through Which Lon Protease Regulates Cell Envelope in Acinetobacter baumannii

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen prevalent in hospital settings. The virulence in A. baumannii is associated with biofilms, bacterial multicellular communities embedded in bacterial produced coating that provides protection from environmental stress. Lon protease is essential in biofilm formation; in strains with Lon protease deficiency (KO), there is decreased biofilm formation along with surprising upregulation of two genes: surA1 and surA2. The protein products SurA1 and A1S_2230 (SurA2), especially SurA2, increase A.