Evolution of carbapenem-resistant serotype k1 hypervirulent klebsiella pneumoniae by acquisition of blaVIM-1-bearing plasmid

Abstract

We report the identification of a carbapenem-resistant, hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp) strain which produced the carbapenemase VIM-1. Genomic analysis showed that the strain belonged to sequence type ST23 and serotype K1, a major hvKp clone, and harbored three resistance-encoding plasmids. Among them, a blaVIM-1-bearing plasmid was found to possess a mosaic structure presumably generated by multiple gene mobilization events. This finding indicates that hvKp actively acquires mobile resistance-encoding elements, facilitating simultaneous expression of hypervirulence and carbapenem-resistance.