Description (Healing Blade Lore)
Acinetobacter baumannii is very slow, oozing through the landscape like gruesome sludge, but its sloth should not be mistaken for apathy or incompetence. It has been trolling the hills of Soma for a century, and is one of the most virulent threats to the warring world. It can afford to be slow because its flexible form makes it extremely difficult to defeat. And it adapts well to changes in its environment, allowing it to withstand Soma’s seasonal fluctuations in rain and humidity.
As the fighting wages on, A. baumannii only gets more powerful. It feasts on the wounded land and fallen soldiers for nourishment, while garnering the weaponry of its fallen comrades (both those of its own Gram Negative legion and others) to power its wrath and evade the harmful blows of its enemies. It has already acquired nearly 40 tools of warfare from its fellow Lords of Pestilence, including Pseudomonas, Salmonella, and Escherichia, and is likely continuing to collect more as it wanders the battlefields. It is fueled by the war, and if it is not taken out soon, it will become too widespread to annihilate.
Unfortunately, few Soma residents have the power to conquer it. It’s only been in the last 30 years that any common Apothecaries have been able to penetrate its gelatinous pelt. More recently, the younger healers have begun developing more creative approaches to sidestep the monster’s defenses and take it down. With any luck, their collective efforts will put an end to the fearsome predator’s devastating drain on the land.
Realword Significance
• A. baumannii is renowned for being able to develop multidrug resistance very quickly.[1]
• Nicknamed “Iraqibacter,” A. baumannii is often associated with soldiers at war because it is able to withstand the high doses of antibiotics often given to wounded soldiers to combat infection.[2]
• Intralytix, a Bacteriophage Research & Development company founded in 1998, is developing specific treatments to address the problem of antibiotic resistance in A. baumannii.[3]
• A. baumannii has a flexible genome, much of which is acquired from other organisms. Specifically, 44% (39 genes) appear to have originated from Pseudomonas spp., 34% (30 genes) from Salmonella spp., 17% (15 genes) from Escherichia spp., and 4% (4 genes) from other microorganisms. This has allowed A. baumannii to evolve increased virulence and drug resistance.[4]
• In the 1970s, A. baumannii was susceptible to most antibiotics.[4]
• One of the first recorded discoveries of an Acientobacter specimen was in 1911 by M.W. Beijerinck.[5]
• A. baumannii’s cell wall changes in response to the environment, adjusting the distance between the outer and plasma membranes, and even changing shape from rod-shpaed to cocci, allowing it to resist desiccation in dry environments.[6]
References
- ↑ Gerischer U (editor) (2009). Acinetobacter Molecular Biology (1st ed.). Caister Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-904455-20-2 http://www.google.com
- ↑ “Acinetobacter baumannii in Iraq”. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
- ↑ Intralytix Web site. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fournier P-E, et al. “Comparative Genomics of Multidrug Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii.” PLoS Genet 2(1): e7, 2006.fckLR doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0020007
- ↑ Acinetobacter baumannii. (2010, July 16). In MicrobeWiki, retrieved August 22, 20104.
- ↑ E.T.S. Houang, et al., “Effect of desiccation on the ultrastructural appearances of Acinetobacter baumannii and Acinetobacter lwoffii,” J. Clin. Pathol., Volume 51(10): 786-788, 1998.