@article{Phillips_Horzempa_2021, title={The Effect of Dillapiole on Acinetobacter baumannii, a Gram-Negative Opportunistic Pathogen}, volume={93}, url={https://pwvas.org/index.php/pwvas/article/view/813}, DOI={10.55632/pwvas.v93i1.813}, abstractNote={<p><em>Acinetobacter baumannii</em> is an encapsulated, non-motile, gram-negative bacterium. <em>A. baumannii</em> has become an increasingly important hospital-acquired pathogen, specifically affecting immunocompromised individuals in intensive care units. This bacterium can cause several diseases, including bacteremia, pneumonia, wound infections, and urinary tract infections. <em>A. baumannii</em> has several virulence factors and can acquire antibiotic resistance genes, which have led to multidrug resistant (MDR) strains. Due to the increasing number of MDR <em>A. baumannii</em> strains, the development of new therapeutics is critical. The Horzempa Lab previously discovered that dillapiole, a natural product extracted from fennel, is effective in decreasing virulence factor expression in <em>Francisella tularensis</em>, a gram-negative bacterium. Dillapiole is structurally similar to acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs, a class of quorum-sensing molecules in gram-negative bacteria); quorum sensing is a process that regulates bacterial pathogenesis and biofilm production. The focus of current investigations is to determine if dillapiole decreases biofilm formation and virulence factor expression in <em>A. baumannii</em>.</p>}, number={1}, journal={Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science}, author={Phillips, Katherine E and Horzempa, Joseph}, year={2021}, month={Apr.} }