Distinguishing Colony Opacity Variants and Measuring Opacity Variation in Acinetobacter baumannii

Sarah E Anderson; Philip N Rather

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-9118-1_14

Distinguishing Colony Opacity Variants and Measuring Opacity Variation in Acinetobacter baumannii

Methods Mol Biol. 2019:1946:151-157. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9118-1_14.

Authors

Sarah E Anderson^{1

2}, Philip N Rather³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
² Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. prather@emory.edu.

PMID: 30798552
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9118-1_14

Abstract

Many strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, including the highly virulent strain AB5075, undergo a high-frequency switch that results in two cell types that are distinguished by their opaque or translucent colony opacities when viewed by oblique lighting. Opaque (VIR-O) and translucent (AV-T) colonies exhibit multiple phenotypic differences, including virulence. Here we describe how to distinguish between VIR-O and AV-T colony variants and how to generate highly pure stocks of each variant. We also describe methods for measuring opacity switching frequencies of cells grown on agar plates and in liquid cultures.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; Opacity; Opaque; Phenotypic switch; Translucent.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Acinetobacter Infections / microbiology*
Acinetobacter baumannii / physiology*
Bacterial Load
Bacterial Typing Techniques
Phenotype*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding