ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1577629
This article is part of the Research TopicInfectious disease control in the microbial functional genomics eraView all 6 articles
wzc mutation mediates virulence changes of K1-type Klebsiella pneumoniae in the same patient
Provisionally accepted
Gaoqin Teng1
Qiuying Qin1,2Shuo Ding1Yanchao Wu1Yingying Fu1,2Meng Zhang1,2Xiaoqiang Yang1,2Ye Jin1Zhijiang Xu1*
Man Huang1*- 1Department of Intensive Care Unit, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 2School of Basic Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
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Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp) is a leading pathogen in community-acquired infections, notably causing severe diseases such as liver abscesses.While there has been considerable research on the virulence mechanisms of hvKp and the genetic properties of resistance plasmids, studies on adaptive evolution of clinical strains within host are still limited. The study seeks to understand impact of genetic mutations on phenotypic changes in high-virulence K. pneumoniae within a host environment. We isolated three strains of K. pneumoniae from the same patient, two of which had identical genetic backgrounds but showed distinct phenotypic traits.Comparative genomic analysis pinpointed a nucleotide mutation in the wzc gene, which led to changes in the mucoid phenotype of the strain, verified by string tests and anti-centrifugal assays. Additionally, we conducted in vivo bioassays and animal infection models for further validation. These experiments suggest that hvKp adapts to the host by reducing capsular polysaccharide synthesis, trading off some virulence for enhanced colonization capabilities.
Keywords: hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae, Virulence, Wzc, capsular polysaccharide, Mucoid
Received: 16 Feb 2025; Accepted: 18 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Teng, Qin, Ding, Wu, Fu, Zhang, Yang, Jin, Xu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhijiang Xu, Department of Intensive Care Unit, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Man Huang, Department of Intensive Care Unit, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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