Essential biological processes of an emerging pathogen: DNA replication, transcription, and cell division in Acinetobacter spp.

Species of the bacterial genus Acinetobacter are becoming increasingly important as a source of hospital-acquired infections (31, 185, 204). Acinetobacter spp. are ubiquitous nonmotile gammaproteobacteria, typified by metabolic versatility and a capacity for natural transformation (172, 204). The species of most clinical relevance is A. baumannii; however, pathogenic strains of A. lwoffi and A. baylyi have also been described (38, 185, 215).