Acquisition of a novel conjugative multidrug-resistant hypervirulent plasmid leads to hypervirulence in clinical carbapenem-resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> strains.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Li, Gong Jia, Ling Wan, Lei Xia, Lijuan Gao, Ang Yang, Runshi Sun, Ruanyang Wang, Minge Du, Juan Lian, Xinlei Zhang, Rongmin Fang, Liangxing Liao, Xiaoping Liu, Yahong Liu, Bao‐Tao Sun, Jian
Description	Impact statementAn ST23 carbapenem‐resistant and hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (CR‐HvKP) strain VH1‐2 was detected from cucumber in China. VH1‐2 was observed to possess a hybrid virulence plasmid, pVH1‐2‐VIR, which may have arisen from the recombination of a virulence plasmid and an IncFIIK conjugative MDR plasmid in clinical ST23 18622 from a sputum sample. The hypervirulent plasmid pVH1‐2‐VIR was proficient in conjugative transfer to clinical ST11 CRKP, leading to an escalation in virulence and colonization levels. The appearance of such plasmids can be worrisome, which necessitates vigilant observation of their prevalence in the food chain. AbstractThe co‐occurrence of plasmid‐mediated multidrug resistance and hypervirulence in epidemic carbapenem‐resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae has emerged as a global public health issue. In this study, an ST23 carbapenem‐resistant hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (CR‐HvKP) strain VH1‐2 was identified from cucumber in China and harbored a novel hybrid plasmid pVH1‐2‐VIR. The plasmid pVH1‐2‐VIR carrying both virulence and multidrug‐resistance (MDR) genes was likely generated through the recombination of a virulence plasmid and an IncFIIK conjugative MDR plasmid in clinical ST23 18622 isolated from a sputum sample. The plasmid pVH1‐2‐VIR exhibited the capacity for transfer to the clinical ST11 carbapenem‐resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP) strain via conjugation assay. Acquisition of pVH1‐2‐VIR plasmid directly converted a CRKP into CR‐HvKP strain characterized by hypermucoviscosity, heightened virulence for Galleria mellonella larvae, and increased colonization ability in the mouse intestine. The emergence of such a hybrid plasmid may expedite the spread of CR‐HvKP strains, posing a significant risk to human health.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC10989919&blobtype=pdf
Page Count	11
ISSN	20971699
Volume Number	2
DOI	10.1002/mlf2.12086
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10989919
Issue Number	3
PubMed reference number	38817808
Journal	mLife
e-ISSN	2770100X
Language	English
Publisher	John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Publisher Date	2023-09-28
Publisher Place	Hoboken
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2023 The Authors. mLife published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. on behalf of Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Subject Keyword	conjugative virulence plasmid CR‐HvKP hybrid plasmid Klebsiella pneumoniae ST23
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Microbiology