Small Klebsiella pneumoniae Plasmids: Neglected Contributors to Antibiotic Resistance.

ABSTRACT: Klebsiella pneumoniae is the causative agent of community- and, more commonly, hospital-acquired infections. Infections caused by this bacterium have recently become more dangerous due to the acquisition of multiresistance to antibiotics and the rise of hypervirulent variants. Plasmids usually carry genes coding for resistance to antibiotics or virulence factors, and the recent sequence of complete K. pneumoniae genomes showed that most strains harbor many of them. Unlike large plasmids, small, usually high copy number plasmids, did not attract much attention. However, these plasmids may include genes coding for specialized functions, such as antibiotic resistance, that can be expressed at high levels due to gene dosage effect. These genes may be part of mobile elements that

SUBMITTER: Ramirez MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6764390 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature