Transmission of Klebsiella strains and plasmids within and between grey-headed flying fox colonies.

ABSTRACT: The grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) is an endemic Australian fruit bat, known to carry zoonotic pathogens. We recently showed they harbour bacterial pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae and closely related species in the K. pneumoniae species complex (KpSC); however, the dynamics of KpSC transmission and gene flow within flying fox colonies are poorly understood. High-resolution genome comparisons of 39 KpSC isolates from grey-headed flying foxes identified five putative strain transmission clusters (four intra- and one inter-colony). The instance of inter-colony strain transmission of K. africana was found between two flying fox populations within flying distance, indicating either direct or indirect transmission through a common food/water source. All 11 plasmids identified wit

SUBMITTER: Vezina B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9790207 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature