In Silico Characterization of bla NDM -Harboring Conjugative Plasmids in Acinetobacter Species

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM)-producing clinical strains in Acinetobacter spp. have been recently reported in many countries and have received considerable attention. The vast majority of cases occur on conjugative plasmids, which play a vital role in disseminating . To characterize the conjugative plasmids bearing genes in Acinetobacter spp., we analyzed the variants of , conjugative transfer regions, genetic contexts of , and the phylogenetic pattern of the 62 predicted -positive plasmids, which were selected from 1,191 plasmids of Acinetobacter species from GenBank. We identified 30 conjugative plasmids from the 62 -harboring plasmids in Acinetobacter species, with the sites similar to plasmid pNDM-YR7 in our study, genes coding for relaxases of the MOB family, genes encoding type IV coupling proteins (T4CPs) of the TrwB/TraD subfamily, and VirB-like type IV secretion system (T4SS) gene clusters. The genome sizes of all 30 pNDM-YR7-like plasmids ranged from 39.36 kb to 49.65 kb, with a median size of 44.56 kb. The most common species of Acinetobacter containing the -positive conjugative plasmids was A. baumannii, followed by Acinetobacter lwoffii and Acinetobacter indicus. Notably, pNDM-YR7 is the first report on a -positive conjugative plasmid in Acinetobacter junii. Moreover, all 30 -positive conjugative plasmids in Acinetobacter species were found to contain genetic contexts with the structure IS - -IS - - . Our findings provide important insights into the phylogeny and evolution of -positive plasmids of Acinetobacter species and further address their role in acquiring and spreading genes in Acinetobacter species. Conjugative plasmids harboring the gene play a vital role in disseminating carbapenem resistance. In this study, we first report a conjugative plasmid, pNDM-YR7, in Acinetobacter junii. Based on the genomic characteristics of the -positive pNDM-YR7, we performed typing and comparative analysis of -positive plasmids using the 1,191 plasmids of Acinetobacter species available in the NCBI RefSeq database. We analyzed the characteristics of -positive plasmids, including the variants of , genetic features associated with , conjugative transfer regions, and the phylogenetic pattern of the -positive plasmids. All 30 -positive conjugative plasmids were found to contain an IS - -IS - - region. This study provides novel insights into the phylogeny and evolution of -harboring conjugative plasmids and contributes to the repertoire of knowledge su