A global post-transcriptional regulator directs Acinetobacter baumannii carbon preference and gut colonization

CsrA is identified as a conserved RNA-binding regulator that directs carbon preference in Acinetobacter baumannii, repressing arginine/ornithine catabolic operons.

• Why it matters: Gut colonization by Acinetobacter baumannii increases risk of infection and transmission, but how carbon preference is controlled in this pathogen was unknown.
• What they did: Experimental evolution implicated CsrA, and RIP-Seq found hundreds of CsrA-associated transcripts; CsrA directly bound and repressed the ast arginine/ornithine catabolic operons.
• The result: CsrA was required for competitive fitness during Acinetobacter baumannii gut colonization, and the Pseudomonas aeruginosa homolog RsmA repressed the same operon expression, suggesting broader conservation.

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