Differential contribution of AcrAB and OqxAB efflux pumps to multidrug resistance and virulence in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

OBJECTIVES: In Klebsiella pneumoniae, overexpression of the AcrAB efflux pump and the more recently described OqxAB efflux pump has been linked to an antibiotic cross-resistance phenotype, but the mechanisms of regulation are largely unknown. Moreover, while AcrAB has been shown to participate in K. pneumoniae virulence, the contribution of OqxAB has not yet been assessed. METHODS: In the present study we investigated a K. pneumoniae clinical isolate (KPBj1 E+), displaying cross-resistance to quinolones, chloramphenicol and cefoxitin, and its phenotypic revertant (KPBj1 Rev, susceptible to antibiotics) by using whole-genome sequencing, RT-PCR, complementation and a Caenorhabditis elegans virulence model. RESULTS: We detected a point mutation in the oqxR repressor gene of KPBj1 E+, which overexpressed genes rarA, encoding a transcriptional regulator, and oqxB, but not acrB. Complementation with wild-type oqxR restored antibiotic susceptibility and normalized rarA and oqxB expression levels. Whole-genome sequencing showed that KPBj1 Rev had lost the entire rarA-oqxABR locus, situated close to an integration hot spot of phage P4. This large deletion seemed responsible for the significantly lower virulence potential of strain KPBj1 Rev compared with KPBj1 E+. Moreover, we found that KPBj1 E+ ΔacrB was significantly less virulent than its parental strain. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the role of the overexpression of efflux pump OqxAB, due to a mutation in gene oqxR, in the antibiotic resistance phenotype of a clinical isolate, and suggests that the presence of AcrAB, associated with overexpression of OqxAB, is required for high virulence potential.

Comparative analysis of Klebsiella pneumoniae genomes identifies a phospholipase D family protein as a novel virulence factor.

BACKGROUND: Klebsiella pneumoniae strains are pathogenic to animals and humans, in which they are both a frequent cause of nosocomial infections and a re-emerging cause of severe community-acquired infections. K. pneumoniae isolates of the capsular serotype K2 are among the most virulent. In order to identify novel putative virulence factors that may account for the severity of K2 infections, the genome sequence of the K2 reference strain Kp52.145 was determined and compared to two K1 and K2 strains of low virulence and to the reference strains MGH 78578 and NTUH-K2044. RESULTS: In addition to diverse functions related to host colonization and virulence encoded in genomic regions common to the four strains, four genomic islands specific for Kp52.145 were identified. These regions encoded genes for the synthesis of colibactin toxin, a putative cytotoxin outer membrane protein, secretion systems, nucleases and eukaryotic-like proteins. In addition, an insertion within a type VI secretion system locus included sel1 domain containing proteins and a phospholipase D family protein (PLD1). The pld1 mutant was avirulent in a pneumonia model in mouse. The pld1 mRNA was expressed in vivo and the pld1 gene was associated with K. pneumoniae isolates from severe infections. Analysis of lipid composition of a defective E. coli strain complemented with pld1 suggests an involvement of PLD1 in cardiolipin metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Determination of the complete genome of the K2 reference strain identified several genomic islands comprising putative elements of pathogenicity. The role of PLD1 in pathogenesis was demonstrated for the first time and suggests that lipid metabolism is a novel virulence mechanism of K. pneumoniae.

Genomic definition of hypervirulent and multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clonal groups.

Multidrug-resistant and highly virulent Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates are emerging, but the clonal groups (CGs) corresponding to these high-risk strains have remained imprecisely defined. We aimed to identify K. pneumoniae CGs on the basis of genome-wide sequence variation and to provide a simple bioinformatics tool to extract virulence and resistance gene data from genomic data. We sequenced 48 K. pneumoniae isolates, mostly of serotypes K1 and K2, and compared the genomes with 119 publicly available genomes. A total of 694 highly conserved genes were included in a core-genome multilocus sequence typing scheme, and cluster analysis of the data enabled precise definition of globally distributed hypervirulent and multidrug-resistant CGs. In addition, we created a freely accessible database, BIGSdb-Kp, to enable rapid extraction of medically and epidemiologically relevant information from genomic sequences of K. pneumoniae. Although drug-resistant and virulent K. pneumoniae populations were largely nonoverlapping, isolates with combined virulence and resistance features were detected.

10-Fold increase (2006-11) in the rate of healthy subjects with extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli faecal carriage in a Parisian check-up centre.

OBJECTIVES: In 2006, 0.6% of healthy subjects living in the Paris area had extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli in their gut. To assess the evolution of this rate, a study identical to that of 2006 was conducted in 2011. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Healthy adults who visited the IPC check-up centre in February-March 2011 and agreed to participate, provided stools and answered a questionnaire on the visit day. Stools were analysed to detect ESBL producers and to isolate the dominant E. coli population. ESBLs were molecularly characterized. For the subjects harbouring ESBL-producing E. coli, the phylogenetic group and sequence type (ST) were determined for both ESBL-producing and dominant E. coli isolates. PFGE profiles were also determined when two types of isolates had the same ST. RESULTS: Among the 345 subjects included, 21 (6%) had ESBL-producing E. coli faecal carriage. None of the previously published risk factors was identified. CTX-M accounted for 86% and SHV-12 for 14%. Dominant and ESBL-producing E. coli were similarly distributed into phylogenetic groups (A, 52%-48%; B1, 5%; B2, 24%-14%; and D, 19%-33%). Dominant and ESBL-producing E. coli displayed a polyclonal structure (18 STs each). However, ST10 and ST131 were identified in dominant and ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from different subjects. Most (20/21) ESBL producers were subdominant and belonged (16/21) to STs different from that of the corresponding dominant E. coli. CONCLUSIONS: The 10-fold increase in the rate of healthy subjects with ESBL-producing E. coli faecal carriage over a 5 year period suggests wide dissemination of these isolates in the Parisian community.

In vitro selection of ramR and soxR mutants overexpressing efflux systems by fluoroquinolones as well as cefoxitin in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

The relationship between efflux system overexpression and cross-resistance to cefoxitin, quinolones, and chloramphenicol has recently been reported in Klebsiella pneumoniae. In 3 previously published clinical isolates and 17 in vitro mutants selected with cefoxitin or fluoroquinolones, mutations in the potential regulator genes of the AcrAB efflux pump (acrR, ramR, ramA, marR, marA, soxR, soxS, and rob) were searched, and their impacts on efflux-related antibiotic cross-resistance were assessed. All mutants but 1, and 2 clinical isolates, overexpressed acrB. No mutation was detected in the regulator genes studied among the clinical isolates and 8 of the mutants. For the 9 remaining mutants, a mutation was found in the ramR gene in 8 of them and in the soxR gene in the last one, resulting in overexpression of ramA and soxS, respectively. Transformation of the ramR mutants and the soxR mutant with the wild-type ramR and soxR genes, respectively, abolished overexpression of acrB and ramA in the ramR mutants and of soxS in the soxR mutant, as well as antibiotic cross-resistance. Resistance due to efflux system overexpression was demonstrated for 4 new antibiotics: cefuroxime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, and ertapenem. This study shows that the ramR and soxR genes control the expression of efflux systems in K. pneumoniae and suggests the existence of efflux pumps other than AcrAB and of other loci involved in the regulation of AcrAB expression.

In-vivo loss of carbapenem resistance by extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae during treatment via porin expression modification.

Klebsiella pneumoniae, an Enterobacteriaceae that mostly causes hospital-acquired infections, belongs to the recently published WHO's list of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that pose the greatest threat to human health. Indeed, K. pneumoniae is the enterobacterial species most concerned by both resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins, due to extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL) production, and resistance to carbapenems, i.e. the ß-lactams with the broadest activity. Carbapenem resistance is related not only to carbapenemase production, but also the production of ESBL or AmpC and the loss of general porins. Here, we characterized the mechanisms that deprived a urinary ESBL-producing, porin-deficient K. pneumoniae isolate, isolated 13 days after the end of a 40-day course of imipenem treatment, of its carbapenem resistance. These mechanisms were observed in two in-vivo derivatives of this isolate and consisted of mutations in genes encoding molecules that participate in the downregulation of the synthesis of PhoE, a porin specialized in phosphate transport. We obtained three new derivatives from one of the two original derivatives, following in-vitro antibiotic pressure, in which the carbapenem resistance was restored because of mutations in genes encoding molecules that participate in the upregulation of PhoE synthesis. Thus, we uncovered novel mechanisms of carbapenem resistance/susceptibility switching in K. pneumoniae.

Development of a multiplex PCR assay for identification of Klebsiella pneumoniae hypervirulent clones of capsular serotype K2.

Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates of capsular serotype K2 (hvKP-K2) that cause community-acquired invasive infections represent several unrelated clones, which all belong to phylogenetic group KpI. These clones can be recognized using multilocus sequence typing and genomic analyses, but no rapid method currently exists to differentiate them. In this work, a multiplex PCR assay was developed to identify three hvKP-K2 groups: (i) sequence type (ST)86; (ii) ST380 and ST679 (i.e. clonal group 380); and (iii) ST65 and ST375. A specific genetic marker, Kp50233, allowing K. pneumoniae sensu stricto (corresponding to phylogroup KpI) to be distinguished from closely related species, was included in the assay. This PCR assay will be useful in better defining the epidemiology and clinical features of emerging virulent K. pneumoniae clones.