Investigation of Quorum Sensing, Biofilm Production, and Detection of Virulence-associated Genes Among Clinical Isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii

Acinetobacter baumannii (A.baumannii) is an opportunistic microorganism able to survive in harsh environments and develop resistance to antibiotics often used in hospitals, which makes it one of the most common and pervasive causes of infections in healthcare facilities.The currentstudy was conducted to investigate the existence ofA.baumannii and their antimicrobialresistantpattern, dispersion of Quorum Sensing(QS), and virulent related genes.In this investigation, the identification and susceptibility of 65non-repetitive A. baumannii isolates to antimicrobial drugs were evaluated.The QS encoding genes,and virulence-related genes were detected,and biofilm development was examined.In a total, 65 isolates of A. baumannii, 62 (95.38%) formed biofilm, with the vast majority being strong biofilm produces24(36.92%).The isolates showed a remarkable resistance to the antibiotics commonly used to treat A. baumanniias amikacin, which had a resistance rate of 100% among isolatesd.Results from virulence gene studies were as followscsgA (30.76%), iutA (24.61%), cnfI (16.92%), and cvaC (6.15%).The two QS genes were abal (90.76%) and abaR (87.69%).Our findings confirm that the QSrelated genes (abaI/abaR) were broadly dispersed across A. baumannii clinical isolates and were strongly associated with antibiotic resistance,andcsgA was apredominant virulence gene followed by ituA.