TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterisation of clinical carbapenem-resistant K1 Klebsiella quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae strains harbouring a virulence plasmid
AU - Xie, Miaomiao
AU - Chen, Kaichao
AU - Chan, Edward Wai Chi
AU - Zhang, Rong
AU - Chen, Sheng
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Basic Research Fund of Shenzhen [JCYJ20200109143220716].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd and International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - The continuous emergence of carbapenem-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-hvKP) poses a great challenge to human health owing to the associated extremely high morbidity and mortality. Klebsiella quasipneumoniae is a newly described bacterial species that is often misidentified as K. pneumoniae. Clinical K. quasipneumoniae strains have been reported worldwide, among which multidrug-resistant lineages have become a severe health problem, while less has been understood on this important pathogen. In this study, we characterised three clinical carbapenem-resistant K. quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae isolates belonging to sequence type 367 (ST367) and capsular type K1 and containing several virulence genes, including salmochelin (iroBCDN), aerobactin (iucABCDiutA) and regulator of mucoid phenotype (rmpA/A2), as well as some resistance genes, including blaKPC-2, blaTEM-1, blaOKP-B-9 and oqxAB. These carbapenem-resistant K. quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae strains containing virulence genes exhibited a higher level of virulence and serum resistance than a classical K. pneumoniae strain, while their virulence levels were slightly lower compared with typical ST11 CR-hvKP and ST23 K1 hvKP strains. This study reports for the first time the genetic and virulence characterisation of clinical K. quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae strains that simultaneously contained blaKPC-2 and virulence genes, contributing to a better understanding of their resistance and pathogenicity as well as for epidemic surveillance worldwide.
AB - The continuous emergence of carbapenem-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-hvKP) poses a great challenge to human health owing to the associated extremely high morbidity and mortality. Klebsiella quasipneumoniae is a newly described bacterial species that is often misidentified as K. pneumoniae. Clinical K. quasipneumoniae strains have been reported worldwide, among which multidrug-resistant lineages have become a severe health problem, while less has been understood on this important pathogen. In this study, we characterised three clinical carbapenem-resistant K. quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae isolates belonging to sequence type 367 (ST367) and capsular type K1 and containing several virulence genes, including salmochelin (iroBCDN), aerobactin (iucABCDiutA) and regulator of mucoid phenotype (rmpA/A2), as well as some resistance genes, including blaKPC-2, blaTEM-1, blaOKP-B-9 and oqxAB. These carbapenem-resistant K. quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae strains containing virulence genes exhibited a higher level of virulence and serum resistance than a classical K. pneumoniae strain, while their virulence levels were slightly lower compared with typical ST11 CR-hvKP and ST23 K1 hvKP strains. This study reports for the first time the genetic and virulence characterisation of clinical K. quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae strains that simultaneously contained blaKPC-2 and virulence genes, contributing to a better understanding of their resistance and pathogenicity as well as for epidemic surveillance worldwide.
KW - bla
KW - Klebsiella quasipneumoniae subsp similipneumoniae
KW - Phylogenetic analysis
KW - Virulence plasmid
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85133577964
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2022.106628
DO - 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2022.106628
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35760224
AN - SCOPUS:85133577964
SN - 0924-8579
VL - 60
JO - International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
JF - International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
IS - 2
M1 - 106628
ER -
