Abstract
ObjectiveTo investigate the overall distributions of key virulence genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae, especially the hypervirulent bla KPC-positive K. pneumoniae (Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP).MethodsA total of 521 complete genomes of K. pneumoniae from GenBank were collected and analyzed. Multilocus sequence typing, molecular serotyping, antibiotic-resistance, virulence genes and plasmid replicon typing were investigated.ResultsPositive rates of virulence genes highly varied, ranging from 2.9 (c-rmpA/A2) to 99.6% (entB). Totally 207 strains presented positive fimH, mrkD, entB and wzi and 190 showed positive fimH, mrkD, entB, irp2 and wzi, which were the two primary modes. A total of 94, 165 and 29 strains were denoted as hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (HvKP), bla KPC(+)-KP and Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP. ST11 accounted for 17 among the 29 Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP strains; Genes iucA, p-rmpA2 and p-rmpA were positive in 28, 26 and 18 Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP strains respectively. Among the 29 Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP strains exhibiting four super clusters from GenBank, IncHI1B plasmids carrying virulence genes and IncFII ones with bla KPC were responsible for both 23 strains respectively.ConclusionsPositive rates of virulence genes vary remarkably in K. pneumoniae. Genes iucA, p-rmpA2 and p-rmpA were primary ones inducing Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP. IncHI1B plasmids carrying virulence genes and IncFII ones with bla KPC constitute the primary combination responsible for Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP. The making of Hv-bla KPC(+)-KP is mostly via bla KPC(+)-KP acquiring another plasmid harboring virulence genes.
Highlights
Klebsiella pneumoniae, a ubiquitous and an opportunistic pathogen, can induce both nosocomial and communityacquired infections (Russo and Marr, 2019; Choby et al, 2020)
The DNA fasta sequences of the 521 genomes were compared with the K. pneumoniae Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) database (Larsen et al, 2012) containing the seven housekeeping genes and the STs were yielded
We found that IncHI1B plasmids were predominantly responsible for the virulence genes (23 strains, 79.3%) and IncFII plasmids were the main contributors for the gene blaKPC (23 strains, 79.3%), suggesting that Hv-blaKPC (+)-KP strains were mainly induced by two different plasmids (Figure 8)
Summary
Klebsiella pneumoniae, a ubiquitous and an opportunistic pathogen, can induce both nosocomial and communityacquired infections (Russo and Marr, 2019; Choby et al, 2020). The former consist of pneumonia, bacteremia, urinary tract infections, etc. K. pneumoniae inducing such “invasive syndrome” is termed as hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (HvKP), which is more virulent than “classical” K. pneumoniae (cKP) typically responsible for nosocomial infections (Russo and Marr, 2019). (Paczosa and Mecsas, 2016). Genes prmpA, p-rmpA2 and c-rmpA/A2 all could induce hypercapsule (Paczosa and Mecsas, 2016). HvKP was usually susceptible to most antibiotics except inherently resistant ampicillin (Fang et al, 2007)
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