A Diverse Panel of Clinical Acinetobacter baumannii for Research and Development

Over the past two decades, Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a leading cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. Of particular concern are pan-resistant strains, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to designate carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii as a Priority 1 (Critical) pathogen for research and development of new antibiotics. A key component in supporting this effort is accessibility to diverse and clinically relevant strains for testing. Herein we describe a panel of 100 diverse A. baumannii strains for use in this endeavor.Whole genome sequencing was performed on 3,505 A. baumannii housed at the Multidrug resistant organism Repository and Surveillance Network. Isolates were cultured from clinical samples at healthcare facilities around the world between 2001 and 2017. Core-genome multi-locus sequence typing and high-resolution SNP-based phylogenetic analyses were used to select a final panel of 100 strains that captured the genetic diversity of the collection. Comprehensive antibiotic susceptibility testing was also performed on all 100 isolates using 14 clinically-relevant antibiotics.The final 100-strain diversity panel contained representative strains from 70 different traditional Pasteur scheme multi-locus sequence types, including major epidemic clones. This diversity was also reflected in antibiotic susceptibility and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene content, with phenotypes ranging from pan-sensitive to pan-resistant, and over 100 distinct AMR gene alleles identified from 32 gene families.This panel provides the most diverse and comprehensive set of A. baumannii strains for use in developing solutions to antibiotic resistance. The panel, and all available meta-data including genome sequences, will be available to industry, academic institutions, federal and other laboratories free-of-charge.