Identifying virulence determinants of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in Galleria mellonella.

ABSTRACT: Infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae are a major public health threat. Extensively drug-resistant and even pan-resistant strains have been reported. Understanding K. pneumoniae pathogenesis is hampered by the fact that murine models of infection offer limited resolution for non-hypervirulent strains which cause the majority of infections. The insect Galleria mellonella larva is a widely used alternative model organism for bacterial pathogens. We have performed genome-scale fitness profiling of a multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae ST258 strain during infection of G. mellonella, to determine if this model is suitable for large-scale virulence factor discovery in this pathogen. Our results demonstrated a dominant role for surface polysaccharides in infection, with contributions from side

SUBMITTER: Bruchmann S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7981267 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature