Characterization of Genetic Parts in Acinetobacter baumannii for Tackling Antibiotic Resistance Harnessing Synthetic Biology

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major and escalating global health problem, which is anticipated to lead to almost 10 million deaths annually by 2050. One of the most difficult to handle AMR pathogens is Acinetobacter baumannii. The present work aims to address the issue of AMR by employing the synthetic biology method, starting with the genetic characterization of standard parts from the iGEM registry, and then implementing genetic circuits in Acinetobacter baumannii. The ultimate objective of this project is to develop a silencing CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) genetic circuit capable of inhibiting the release of resistance genes. The engineering step here is the combining and expression of the CRISPRi elements, where two approaches are used: one is the use of robust constitutive promoters (the Anderson library) and another is the use of an inducible system (pLac, pTet) with carefully tailored plasmids (pSGAb, pME6032) for compatibility with the iGEM standard assembly to simplify and promote the study of this microorganism by the whole synthetic biology community.