Covert dissemination of pLVPK-like virulence plasmid in ST29-K54 Klebsiella pneumoniae: emergence of low virulence phenotype strains

Jiehui Qiu; Dandan Wei; Jiaxin Ma; Ren Liu; Jianglong Shi; Qun Ren; Chunping Wei; Binghui Huo; Lanlan Zhu; Tianxin Xiang; Yang Liu; Na Cheng

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1194133

Covert dissemination of pLVPK-like virulence plasmid in ST29-K54 Klebsiella pneumoniae: emergence of low virulence phenotype strains

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Sep 27:13:1194133. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1194133. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jiehui Qiu¹, Dandan Wei^{2

3}, Jiaxin Ma¹, Ren Liu¹, Jianglong Shi¹, Qun Ren¹, Chunping Wei¹, Binghui Huo², Lanlan Zhu⁴, Tianxin Xiang⁵, Yang Liu^{2

3

6}, Na Cheng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
² Departments of Clinical Laboratory, Medical Center of Burn Plastic and Wound Repair, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
³ National Regional Center for Respiratory Medicine, China-Japan Friendship Hospital Jiangxi Hospital, Nanchang, China.
⁴ Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
⁵ Medical Center for Major Public Health Events in Jiangxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
⁶ Jiangxi Medicine Academy of Nutrition and Health Management, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the epidemic, clinical characteristics, and molecular and virulence attributes of Klebsiella pneumoniae serotype K54 (K54-Kp). A retrospective study was conducted on 328 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae screened in a Chinese hospital from January 2016 to December 2019. The virulence genes and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were detected by PCR, and a drug sensitivity test was adopted to detect drug resistance. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and PFGE were performed to determine the clonal correlation between isolates. Biofilm formation assay, serum complement-mediated killing, and Galleria mellonella infection were used to characterize the virulence potential. Our results showed that thirty strains of K54-Kp were screened from 328 strains of bacteria, with an annual detection rate of 2.29%. K54-Kp had a high resistance rate to antibiotics commonly used in the clinic, and patients with hepatobiliary diseases were prone to K54-Kp infection. MLST typing showed 10 sequence typing, mainly ST29 (11/30), which concentrated in the B2 cluster. K54-Kp primarily carried virulence genes of aerobactin, silS, allS, wcaG, wabG, and mrkD, among which the terW gene was closely related to ST29 (p<0.05). The strains infected by the bloodstream had strong biofilm formation ability (p<0.05). Most strains were sensitive to serum. Still, the virulence of pLVPK-like virulence plasmid in ST29-K54 Klebsiella pneumoniae was lower than that of ST11 type and NTUH-K2044 in the Galleria mellonella model. Therefore, these findings supply a foundation to roundly comprehend K54-Kp, and clinicians should strengthen supervision and attention.

Keywords: ST29-k54; capsular serotype; clinical characteristics; klebsiella pneumoniae; virulence.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
Humans
Klebsiella Infections* / microbiology
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Moths*
Multilocus Sequence Typing
Phenotype
Plasmids / genetics
Retrospective Studies
Virulence / genetics

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents

Grants and funding

Financial support was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82102411, 82260403), 2020 Clinical Research and Cultivation project of the First Affiliated Hospital(YFYLCYJPY202201). Jiangxi Provincial Health Commission science and technology plan project (202210370). Jiangxi Province applied research and cultivation program (2018BBG78021).