scholarly journals Genetic diversity of capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates

Microbiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 155 (12) ◽  
pp. 4170-4183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung-Yu Shu ◽  
Chang-Phone Fung ◽  
Yen-Ming Liu ◽  
Keh-Ming Wu ◽  
Ying-Tsong Chen ◽  
...  

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an enteric pathogen causing community-acquired and hospital-acquired infections in humans. Epidemiological studies have revealed significant diversity in capsular polysaccharide (CPS) type and clinical manifestation of K. pneumoniae infection in different geographical areas of the world. We have sequenced the capsular polysaccharide synthesis (cps) region of seven clinical isolates and compared the sequences with the publicly available cps sequence data of five strains: NTUH-K2044 (K1 serotype), Chedid (K2 serotype), MGH78578 (K52 serotype), A1142 (K57 serotype) and A1517. Among all strains, six genes at the 5′ end of the cps clusters that encode proteins for CPS transportation and processing at the bacterial surface are highly similar to each other. The central region of the cps gene clusters, which encodes proteins for polymerization and assembly of the CPS subunits, is highly divergent. Based on the collected sequence, we found that either the wbaP gene or the wcaJ gene exists in a given K. pneumoniae strain, suggesting that there is a major difference in the CPS biosynthesis pathway and that the K. pneumoniae strains can be classified into at least two distinct groups. All isolates contain gnd, encoding gluconate-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, at the 3′ end of the cps gene clusters. The rmlBADC genes were found in CPS K9-positive, K14-positive and K52-positive strains, while manC and manB were found in K1, K2, K5, K14, K62 and two undefined strains. Our data indicate that, while overall genomic organization is similar between different pathogenic K. pneumoniae strains, the genetic variation of the sugar moiety and polysaccharide linkage generate the diversity in CPS molecules that could help evade host immune attack.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. e96827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Maria D’Andrea ◽  
Francesco Amisano ◽  
Tommaso Giani ◽  
Viola Conte ◽  
Nagaia Ciacci ◽  
...  

Microbiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 155 (4) ◽  
pp. 1039-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila Patrick ◽  
Simon Houston ◽  
Zubin Thacker ◽  
Garry W. Blakely

The obligate anaerobe Bacteroides fragilis is a normal resident of the human gastrointestinal tract. The clinically derived B. fragilis strain NCTC 9343 produces an extensive array of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS), including antigenically distinct large, small and micro- capsules. The genome of NCTC 9343 encodes multiple gene clusters potentially involved in the biosynthesis of EPS, eight of which are implicated in production of the antigenically variable micro-capsule. We have developed a rapid and robust method for generating marked and markerless deletions, together with efficient electroporation using unmodified plasmid DNA to enable complementation of mutations. We show that deletion of a putative wzz homologue prevents production of high-molecular-mass polysaccharides (HMMPS), which form the micro-capsule. This observation suggests that micro-capsule HMMPS constitute the distal component of LPS in B. fragilis. The long chain length of this polysaccharide is strikingly different from classical enteric O-antigen, which consists of short-chain polysaccharides. We also demonstrate that deletion of a putative wbaP homologue prevents expression of the phase-variable large capsule and that expression can be restored by complementation. This suggests that synthesis of the large capsule is mechanistically equivalent to production of Escherichia coli group 1 and 4 capsules.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Dalila Mil-Homens ◽  
Maria Martins ◽  
José Barbosa ◽  
Gabriel Serafim ◽  
Maria J. Sarmento ◽  
...  

Klebsiella pneumoniae, one of the most common pathogens found in hospital-acquired infections, is often resistant to multiple antibiotics. In fact, multidrug-resistant (MDR) K. pneumoniae producing KPC or OXA-48-like carbapenemases are recognized as a serious global health threat. In this sense, we evaluated the virulence of K. pneumoniae KPC(+) or OXA-48(+) aiming at potential antimicrobial therapeutics. K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) and the expanded-spectrum oxacillinase OXA-48 isolates were obtained from patients treated in medical care units in Lisbon, Portugal. The virulence potential of the K. pneumonia clinical isolates was tested using the Galleria mellonella model. For that, G. mellonella larvae were inoculated using patients KPC(+) and OXA-48(+) isolates. Using this in vivo model, the KPC(+) K. pneumoniae isolates showed to be, on average, more virulent than OXA-48(+). Virulence was found attenuated when a low bacterial inoculum (one magnitude lower) was tested. In addition, we also report the use of a synthetic polycationic oligomer (L-OEI-h) as a potential antimicrobial agent to fight infectious diseases caused by MDR bacteria. L-OEI-h has a broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and exerts a significantly bactericidal activity within the first 5-30 min treatment, causing lysis of the cytoplasmic membrane. Importantly, the polycationic oligomer showed low toxicity against in vitro models and no visible cytotoxicity (measured by survival and health index) was noted on the in vivo model (G. mellonella), thus L-OEI-h is foreseen as a promising polymer therapeutic for the treatment of MDR K. pneumoniae infections.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Jiun Pan ◽  
Tzu-Lung Lin ◽  
Chun-Tang Chen ◽  
Yi-Yin Chen ◽  
Pei-Fang Hsieh ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (14) ◽  
pp. 4492-4501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keh-Ming Wu ◽  
Ling-Hui Li ◽  
Jing-Jou Yan ◽  
Nina Tsao ◽  
Tsai-Lien Liao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Nosocomial infections caused by antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae are emerging as a major health problem worldwide, while community-acquired K. pneumoniae infections present with a range of diverse clinical pictures in different geographic areas. In particular, an invasive form of K. pneumoniae that causes liver abscesses was first observed in Asia and then was found worldwide. We are interested in how differences in gene content of the same species result in different diseases. Thus, we sequenced the whole genome of K. pneumoniae NTUH-K2044, which was isolated from a patient with liver abscess and meningitis, and analyzed differences compared to strain MGH 78578, which was isolated from a patient with pneumonia. Six major types of differences were found in gene clusters that included an integrative and conjugative element, clusters involved in citrate fermentation, lipopolysaccharide synthesis, and capsular polysaccharide synthesis, phage-related insertions, and a cluster containing fimbria-related genes. We also conducted comparative genomic hybridization with 15 K. pneumoniae isolates obtained from community-acquired or nosocomial infections using tiling probes for the NTUH-K2044 genome. Hierarchical clustering revealed three major groups of genomic insertion-deletion patterns that correlate with the strains' clinical features, antimicrobial susceptibilities, and virulence phenotypes with mice. Here we report the whole-genome sequence of K. pneumoniae NTUH-K2044 and describe evidence showing significant genomic diversity and sequence acquisition among K. pneumoniae pathogenic strains. Our findings support the hypothesis that these factors are responsible for the changes that have occurred in the disease profile over time.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e107812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chien-Chen Wu ◽  
Chien-Kuo Wang ◽  
Yu-Ching Chen ◽  
Tien-Huang Lin ◽  
Tzyy-Rong Jinn ◽  
...  

2000 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 6182-6188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie E. Comstock ◽  
Annalisa Pantosti ◽  
Dennis L. Kasper

ABSTRACT A genetic approach was used to assess the heterogeneity of the capsular polysaccharide C (PS C) biosynthesis locus ofBacteroides fragilis and to determine whether distinct loci contain genes whose products are likely to be involved in conferring charged groups that enable the B. fragilis capsular polysaccharides to induce abscesses. A collection of 50 B. fragilis strains was examined. PCR analysis demonstrated that the genes flanking the PS C biosynthesis region are conserved, whereas the genes within the loci are heterogeneous. OnlycfiA + B. fragilis strains, which represent 3% of the clinical isolates of B. fragilis, displayed heterogeneity in the regions flanking the polysaccharide biosynthesis genes. Primers were designed in the conserved regions upstream and downstream of the PS C locus and were used to amplify the region from 45 of the 50 B. fragilis strains studied. Fourteen PS C genetic loci could be differentiated by a combination of PCR and extended PCR. These loci ranged in size from 14 to 26 kb. Hybridization analysis with genes from the PS C loci of strains 9343 and 638R revealed that the majority of strains contain homologs ofwcgC (N-acetylmannosamine dehydrogenase),wcfF (putative dehydrogenase), and wcgP(putative aminotransferase). The data suggest that the synthesis of polysaccharides that have zwitterionic characteristics rendering them able to induce abscesses is common in B. fragilis.


Microbiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 157 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching-Ting Lin ◽  
Chien-Chen Wu ◽  
Yu-Sheng Chen ◽  
Yi-Chyi Lai ◽  
Chia Chi ◽  
...  

The ferric uptake regulator Fur has been reported to repress the expression of rmpA, a regulatory gene for the mucoid phenotype, leading to decreased capsular polysaccharide (CPS) biosynthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae CG43. Here, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses and electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that Fur also repressed the expression of the CPS regulatory genes rmpA2 and rcsA. Interestingly, deletion of rmpA or rcsA but not rmpA2 from the Δfur strain was able to suppress the deletion effect of Fur. The availability of extracellular iron affected the amount of CPS, suggesting that Fur regulates CPS biosynthesis in an Fe(II)-dependent manner. Increased production of siderophores was observed in the Δfur strain, suggesting that uptake of extracellular iron in K. pneumoniae is regulated by Fur. Fur titration assays and qRT-PCR analyses demonstrated that at least six of the eight putative iron-acquisition systems, identified by a blast search in the contig database of K. pneumoniae CG43, were directly repressed by Fur. We conclude that Fur has a dual role in the regulation of CPS biosynthesis and iron acquisition in K. pneumoniae.


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