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Liu C, Dong N, Huang X, Huang Z, Cai C, Lu J, Zhou H, Zhang J, Zeng Y, Yang F, Chen G, Shen Z, Zhang R, Chen S. Emergence of the clinical rdar morphotype carbapenem-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae with enhanced adaption to hospital environment. Sci Total Environ 2023; 889:164302. [PMID: 37211110 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae has evolved into strains of various phenotypes that pose a grave threat to human health in the past few decades. This study investigated a novel morphotype of K. pneumoniae with enhanced adaption to the hospital environment. Clinical K. pneumoniae were characterized by different genotypic and phenotypic tests. Gene knockout and complementation experiments were used to confirm the genetic changes that led to the morphological changes. ST15 carbapenem-resistant and hypervirulent (CR-hvKP) clinical strains with the "red, dry and rough" (rdar) morphotype were increasingly detected in hospitals in China. Strains with the rdar phenotype were found to be less virulent compared with that with typical morphologies but exhibit enhanced ability to adhere to the surface of various materials, and hence a dramatically increased rate of survival on various materials commonly found in the hospital environment. Comparative genomics analysis and gene function studies suggested the rdar morphotype was due to a G579D substitution in the BcsA protein which enabled the strain to produce a large amount of cellulose. These findings show evolutional phenotypic change enables K. pneumoniae strains to better survive both in human and hospital environments, facilitating its persistence and further dissemination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congcong Liu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Ning Dong
- State Key Lab of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery and the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong; Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Biology and Basic Medical Science, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China; Suzhou Key Laboratory of Pathogen Bioscience and Anti-infective Medicine, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Xueting Huang
- Department of Basic Medical Science, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Zixian Huang
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| | - Chang Cai
- China-Australian Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Animal Science and Technology & College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiayue Lu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Hongwei Zhou
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jingren Zhang
- Department of Basic Medical Science, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yu Zeng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Fan Yang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Department of Biophysics and Kidney Disease Center, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, National Health Commission and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Gongxiang Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhangqi Shen
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
| | - Rong Zhang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Sheng Chen
- State Key Lab of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery and the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
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