Revealing fitness and virulence determinants of hypervirulent <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> during infection in <i>Galleria mellonella</i> using a transposon library.

ABSTRACT: Klebsiella pneumoniae infections represent a significant public health concern. Despite their clinical relevance, the genetic determinants underlying bacterial fitness and virulence remain incompletely characterized. In this study, we systematically identified genes involved in host adaptation by generating a transposon mutant library and integrating a Galleria mellonella infection model with transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) technology. This approach yielded a comprehensive dataset of adaptation-deficient genes in the hypervirulent K. pneumoniae strain ATCC 43816. Using homologous recombination, we constructed gene deletion mutants of the carbohydrate phosphotransferase system enzyme I (PtsI) and the putative prolyl endopeptidase (GM2628), and verified their key roles in

SUBMITTER: Xiao L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12411516 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature