Differential gut transmission of IncP plasmid clades involving hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae reveals plasmid-specific ecological adaptation.

ABSTRACT: Conjugative plasmids can drive the global spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Enterobacterales. Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp) increasingly acquire AMR plasmids, raising concern about convergent hypervirulent drug-resistant clones. Yet little is known about plasmid transmission dynamics in hvKp. Using an antibiotic-perturbed murine gut model with hvKp and human commensal E. coli, we discover that broad-host range IncP plasmids belonging to different phylogenetic branches (clade I (PTU-P1) and clade II (PTU-P2)) transfer differentially in the gut, mirroring the higher prevalence of PTU-P2 plasmids in human-associated samples. Statistical modelling and experimental results show that secondary transfer by transconjugants sustains gut transmission without continuous donor i

SUBMITTER: Yong M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12728208 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature