{
  "abstract": "ATCC 17978 is one of the most utilised lab strains of Acinetobacter baumannii. Current literature suggests ATCC 17978 can have either a sulfamethoxazole-resistant phenotype or have the type VI secretion system (T6SS) switched on depending on the presence/absence of the large conjugative plasmid pAB3, which encodes the antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) sul2 and T6SS repressors tetR1/tetR2. Here, we show that pAB3 integrates into the ATCC 17978 chromosome, which enables a large inversion resulting in the chromosomal arrangement labelled GS2.24 by Socru. This integration has no transcriptional impact on nearby genes or tetR1/tetR2. We find several instances were a portion of integrated pAB3 containing tetR2 is lost but the rest of the sequence, including sul2, is maintained, suggesting pAB3 integration may serve to make further rearrangements more tractable, enabling a putative T6SS+ sulfamethoxazole-resistant phenotype.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of East Anglia"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "M. Neil"
    },
    {
      "name": "G. Langridge"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "B. A. Evans"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ftt09ymv1pjsy.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.30.763009",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763009v1.full",
  "id": "ftt09ymv1pjsy",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763009v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "microbiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763009v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-30",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ftt09ymv1pjsy.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:20:55Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.30.763009",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763009v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:microbiology",
      "subfield": "microbiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The large conjugative plasmid pAB3 integrates into the chromosome of Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978",
  "title_text": "The large conjugative plasmid pAB3 integrates into the chromosome of Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-02T00:21:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ftt09ymv1pjsy",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}