ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1626123
This article is part of the Research TopicPathogenic microorganisms and biosafetyView all 12 articles
Enhancement of blaIMP Plasmid Transfer in Klebsiella pneumoniae by Hospital Wastewater: A Transcriptomic Study
Provisionally accepted
- The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
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Klebsiella pneumoniae is a critical ESKAPE pathogen that presents a significant challenge to public health because of its multidrug-resistant strains. This study investigates the impact and mechanisms of hospital wastewater on the horizontal gene transfer of carbapenem resistance genes, particularly blaIMP, in Klebsiella pneumoniae.Transcriptomic sequencing, outer membrane permeability testing, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection were used to investigate the mechanisms that enable this transfer. Our study findings revealed that hospital wastewater significantly enhances the conjugation frequency of plasmids containing blaIMP, showing a two-fold increase in wastewater-based LB broth compared to regular LB broth. In comparison to regular LB broth culture, the wastewater-based LB broth culture group showed significant alterations in the expression of 1,415 genes, with 907 genes upregulated and 508 genes downregulated. Genes related to conjugation transfer systems (such as traA, traB, traC, traK, and traH et al.), the type Ⅳ secretion system (including virB5, virB8, and virB10), and flagellum production (such as fimH, fimG, fimF, fimA, and ppdA et al.) were significantly upregulated, indicating a potential role in promoting plasmid transfer. Moreover, the treatment of wastewater resulted in elevated intracellular ROS production and increased permeability of bacterial outer membranes, potentially facilitating the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. This research shows that hospital wastewater facilitates the transfer of drug-resistant plasmids containing blaIMP and elucidates its potential mechanisms. A more detailed investigation into these mechanisms may facilitate the prevention of resistance transmission between healthcare and environmental contexts and inform future strategies for managing carbapenem resistance.
Keywords: Hospital wastewater, HGT, ARGS, conjugation, Klebsiella pneumoniae
Received: 10 May 2025; Accepted: 02 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiang, Shu, Wen, Wei, Liu, Ye, Cheng, Zeng and Liu. 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:
Yuan Jiang, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
Jinbo Liu, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
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