Chemical stressors differentially induce prophage replication in Acinetobacter baumannii strains
- 1Sandia National Laboratories
Abstract
Prophages are prevalent genomic elements that profoundly shape microbial communities by controlling host bacterial populations through lysis or enabling genetic recombination via transduction. Standard induction protocols rely heavily on DNA-damaging agents like mitomycin C, failing to capture the complex chemical landscapes bacteria encounter in natural and clinical settings where diverse environmental insults trigger excision. Furthermore, the regulatory variations governing polylysogenic hosts containing multiple co-habiting prophages under identical stressors remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we surveyed a panel of five clinical Acinetobacter baumannii strains containing zero to four resident prophages against a library of 57 diverse chemical stressors. We demonstrate that chemical treatments, including distinct classes of antibiotics, drive differential prophage induction patterns across different host backgrounds. This could lead to a greater understanding of the importance of prophages in antibiotic treatment regimes.
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BibTeX
@misc{trinh2026chemical,
title = {{Chemical stressors differentially induce prophage replication in Acinetobacter baumannii strains}},
author = {J. Trinh and H. K. Carlson and V. K. Mutalik and C. M. Mageeney},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.15.751888},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.15.751888v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Chemical stressors differentially induce prophage replication in Acinetobacter baumannii strains
AU - J. Trinh
AU - H. K. Carlson
AU - V. K. Mutalik
AU - C. M. Mageeney
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.15.751888
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.15.751888v1
AB - Prophages are prevalent genomic elements that profoundly shape microbial communities by controlling host bacterial populations through lysis or enabling genetic recombination via transduction. Standard induction protocols rely heavily on DNA-damaging agents like mitomycin C, failing to capture the complex chemical landscapes bacteria encounter in natural and clinical settings where diverse environmental insults trigger excision. Furthermore, the regulatory variations governing polylysogenic hosts containing multiple co-habiting prophages under identical stressors remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we surveyed a panel of five clinical Acinetobacter baumannii strains containing zero to four resident prophages against a library of 57 diverse chemical stressors. We demonstrate that chemical treatments, including distinct classes of antibiotics, drive differential prophage induction patterns across different host backgrounds. This could lead to a greater understanding of the importance of prophages in antibiotic treatment regimes.
ER -