Acinetobacter baumannii’s lifestyle includes soil-dwelling colonization of decaying plant material and airborne spread

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dc.abstract.enAcinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative nosocomial pathogen that is notorious for its rapid development of antibiotic resistance. However, its ecology and evolution outside hospital settings remain poorly defined. Here, we demonstrate that the natural lifestyle of A. baumannii includes soil-dwelling and airborne dissemination, which helps explaining its adaptability and tolerance to desiccation, radiation and antibiotics, and thus its predisposition to establish within hospitals. Starting from white stork nestlings previously discovered as a reservoir, we studied food chains and associated environments and identified soil and decaying plants as habitats. We demonstrate that sterilized plant material is rapidly colonized by airborne A. baumannii. A set of 401 genomes were sequenced and compared to publicly available genomes, revealing numerous links between wildlife isolates and hospital strains, and disclosing intercontinental dispersal. Our pan-genome estimate of the species (~51,000 gene families) more than doubles that of previous studies. Our data further suggest massive radiation of the species early after its emergence, possibly fostered by human activity since the Neolithic. Now, it is possible to study the ecology and evolution of A. baumannii in nature at an unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution and to elucidate the adaptive evolution of environmental bacteria towards multidrug-resistant opportunistic pathogens.
dc.affiliationWydział Medycyny Weterynaryjnej i Nauk o Zwierzętach
dc.affiliation.instituteKatedra Zoologii
dc.contributor.authorWilharm, Gottfried
dc.contributor.authorSkiebe, Evelyn
dc.contributor.authorMichalska, Andżelina
dc.contributor.authorHiggins, Paul G.
dc.contributor.authorWeber, Kristin
dc.contributor.authorSchaudinn, Christoph
dc.contributor.authorNeugebauer, Christof
dc.contributor.authorGörlitz, Katharina
dc.contributor.authorMeimers, Gideon
dc.contributor.authorRizova, Yana
dc.contributor.authorBlaschke, Ulrike
dc.contributor.authorHeider, Christine
dc.contributor.authorCuny, Christiane
dc.contributor.authorDrewes, Stephan
dc.contributor.authorHeuser, Elisa
dc.contributor.authorJeske, Kathrin
dc.contributor.authorJacob, Jens
dc.contributor.authorUlrich, Rainer G.
dc.contributor.authorBocheński, Marcin
dc.contributor.authorKasprzak, Mariusz
dc.contributor.authorBurda, Ewa
dc.contributor.authorCiepliński, Mateusz
dc.contributor.authorKaługa, Ireneusz
dc.contributor.authorJankowiak, Łukasz
dc.contributor.authorAguirre, José I.
dc.contributor.authorLópez-García, Alejandro
dc.contributor.authorHöfle, Ursula
dc.contributor.authorJagiello, Zuzanna
dc.contributor.authorTobółka, Marcin
dc.contributor.authorJanic, Bartosz
dc.contributor.authorZieliński, Piotr
dc.contributor.authorKamiński, Maciej
dc.contributor.authorFrisch, Johannes
dc.contributor.authorSiekiera, Joachim
dc.contributor.authorWendel, Andreas F.
dc.contributor.authorBrauner, Paul
dc.contributor.authorJäckel, Udo
dc.contributor.authorKaatz, Michael
dc.contributor.authorMüller, Stefanie
dc.contributor.authorLübke-Becker, Antina
dc.contributor.authorWieler, Lothar H.
dc.contributor.authorvon Wachsmann, Johanna
dc.contributor.authorThrukonda, Lakshmipriya
dc.contributor.authorHelal, Mustafa
dc.contributor.authorEpping, Lennard
dc.contributor.authorWolf, Silver A.
dc.contributor.authorSemmler, Torsten
dc.contributor.authorJerzak, Leszek
dc.date.access2026-04-09
dc.date.accessioned2026-04-10T10:08:48Z
dc.date.available2026-04-10T10:08:48Z
dc.date.copyright2026-03-10
dc.date.issued2026
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Acinetobacter baumannii</jats:italic> is a Gram-negative nosocomial pathogen that is notorious for its rapid development of antibiotic resistance. However, its ecology and evolution outside hospital settings remain poorly defined. Here, we demonstrate that the natural lifestyle of <jats:italic>A. baumannii</jats:italic> includes soil-dwelling and airborne dissemination, which helps explaining its adaptability and tolerance to desiccation, radiation and antibiotics, and thus its predisposition to establish within hospitals. Starting from white stork nestlings previously discovered as a reservoir, we studied food chains and associated environments and identified soil and decaying plants as habitats. We demonstrate that sterilized plant material is rapidly colonized by airborne <jats:italic>A. baumannii</jats:italic> . A set of 401 genomes were sequenced and compared to publicly available genomes, revealing numerous links between wildlife isolates and hospital strains, and disclosing intercontinental dispersal. Our pan-genome estimate of the species (~51,000 gene families) more than doubles that of previous studies. Our data further suggest massive radiation of the species early after its emergence, possibly fostered by human activity since the Neolithic. Now, it is possible to study the ecology and evolution of <jats:italic>A. baumannii</jats:italic> in nature at an unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution and to elucidate the adaptive evolution of environmental bacteria towards multidrug-resistant opportunistic pathogens. </jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.bibliographyil., bibliogr.
dc.description.financepublication_nocost
dc.description.financecost0,00
dc.description.if15,7
dc.description.points200
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume17
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41467-026-70072-4
dc.identifier.issn2041-1723
dc.identifier.urihttps://sciencerep.up.poznan.pl/handle/item/8051
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70072-4
dc.languageen
dc.relation.ispartofNature Communications
dc.relation.pagesart. 2316
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.sciencecloudnosend
dc.share.typeOPEN_JOURNAL
dc.subject.enbacterial evolution
dc.subject.enbacterial genomics
dc.subject.enenvironmental microbiology
dc.subject.enmicrobial ecology
dc.subject.enpathogens
dc.titleAcinetobacter baumannii’s lifestyle includes soil-dwelling colonization of decaying plant material and airborne spread
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.issue1
oaire.citation.volume17