Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Clinical Microbiology
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1492700
This article is part of the Research Topic Perspectives in Clinical Microbiology for Combating Multi-drug Resistant Bacterial Infections: 2024 View all articles

Genomic Characterization of a blaKPC-2-producing IncM2 Plasmid Harboring Transposon △Tn6296 in Klebsiella michiganensis

Provisionally accepted
Jian-Mei Song Jian-Mei Song *Hubo Long Hubo Long Mei Ye Mei Ye Baorui Yang Baorui Yang Guang-Juan Wu Guang-Juan Wu Hong-Chun He Hong-Chun He Xiao-Gang Li Xiao-Gang Li De-Yao Deng De-Yao Deng Bo Li Bo Li Wen-Li Yuan Wen-Li Yuan
  • The Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University, Kunming, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Wen-li Yuan will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication.Klebsiella michiganensis is an emerging hospital-acquired bacterial pathogen, particularly strains harboring plasmid-mediated carbapenemase genes. Here, we recovered and characterized a multidrug-resistant strain, blaKPC-2-producing Klebsiella michiganensis LS81, which was isolated from the abdominal drainage fluid of a clinical patient in China, and further characterized the co-harboring plasmid. K. michiganensis LS81 tested positive for the blaKPC-2 genes by PCR sequencing, with blaKPC-2 located on a plasmid as confirmed by S1 nuclease pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (S1-PFGE) combined with Southern blotting. In the transconjugants, the blaKPC-2 genes were successfully transferred to the recipient strain E. coli EC600.Whole genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatics analysis confirmed that this strain belongs to sequence type 196 (ST196), with a complete genome comprising a 5,926,662 bp circular chromosome and an 81,451 bp IncM2 plasmid encoding blaKPC-2 (designated pLS81-KPC). The IncM2 plasmid carried multiple β-lactamase genes blaTEM-1B, blaCTX-M-3, and blaKPC-2 inserted in truncated Tn6296 with the distinctive core structure ISKpn27-blaKPC-2-ISKpn6. A comparison with 46 K. michiganensis genomes available in the NCBI database revealed that the closest phylogenetic relative of K. michiganensis LS81 is a clinical isolate from a wound swab in the United Kingdom. Ultimately, the pan-genomic analysis unveiled a substantial accessory genome within the strain, alongside significant genomic plasticity within the K. michiganensis species, emphasizing the necessity for continuous surveillance of this pathogen in clinical environments.

    Keywords: Klebsiella michiganensis, Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, whole genome sequencing, blaKPC-2 carbapenemases, ISKpn27-blaKPC-2-ISKpn6, phylogenetics

    Received: 07 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Song, Long, Ye, Yang, Wu, He, Li, Deng, Li and Yuan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jian-Mei Song, The Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University, Kunming, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.