Analysis of variations in cell envelope subproteome and cell length in Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606T populations by effect of temperature and desiccation

Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen for humans and animals, possesses a tremendous potential to survive under hostile conditions. We studied the effect of temperature, nutrient deprivation, and desiccation on the survival of A. baumannii ATCC 19606^T by monitoring variations in cellular counts and in cell length and analyzing cell envelope subproteome during the survival process. Nutrient deprivation alone does not appear to have a negative effect on A. baumannii survival, but incubation at 37 °C in an aqueous solution provoked loss of culturability, as well as a marked increase in cell length. Although a high stability of the membrane subproteome was observed, even under environmental conditions that promote morphological changes and loss of culturability, the expression of some membrane proteins did change upon exposure to the stress. Signal peptidase I and fimbrial protein became undetectable in almost all the conditions examined, while EF-Tu (in all conditions) and MinD (in populations incubated at 37 °C) were overexpressed. The great capacity for survival displayed by A. baumannii under adverse conditions may be explained, at least in part, by its capacity to maintain the expression levels of most of its cell envelope proteins and regulate a few others.