AUTHOR=Altayb Hisham N. , Hosawi Salman , Baothman Othman , Kazmi Imran , Chaieb Kamel , Abu Zeid Isam M. , Elbadawi Hana S. , Lopes Bruno Silvester , Moglad Ehssan 

TITLE=Molecular insights into novel environmental strains of Klebsiella quasipneumoniae harboring different antimicrobial-resistance genes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1068888

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.1068888

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>The emergence of bacterial pathogens in environmental hosts represents a major risk to public health. This study aimed at characterizing seven novel environmental strains of <italic>K. quasipneumoniae</italic> using a genomic approach which was misidentified by phenotypic methods in a previous batch of 27 species thought to be <italic>K. pneumoniae</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Whole-genome sequencing was performed using the Illumina platform, and the generated raw reads were <italic>de novo</italic> assembled. Comparative genomic, resistome, virulome, mobilome, and phylogeny were then investigated using dierent bioinformatics tools.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Six strains were identified as <italic>K. quasipneumoniae</italic> subsp <italic>similipneumoniae</italic> and one as <italic>K. quasipneumoniae</italic> subsp. <italic>quasipneumoniae</italic>. All isolates were resistant to ampicillin, cephalexin, and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and harbored the <italic>fosA</italic>, <italic>bla</italic><sub>OKP</sub> types, <italic>oqxB</italic>, and <italic>oqxA</italic> genes. One isolate additionally harbored a gene cassettes consisting of <italic>bla</italic><sub>SHV−1</sub>, <italic>bla</italic><sub>OXA−1</sub>, <italic>aac(6</italic>′<italic>)-Ib-cr, catB</italic> genes. The aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme gene <italic>aph(3”)-Ia</italic> was bracketed by two insertion elements. Plasmid analyses showed that IncFIB<sub>K</sub> was the most prevalent plasmid, circulating in six isolates, while one isolate exhibited seven different plasmids. The isolates have virulence genes responsible for capsule formation, lipopolysaccharide, iron uptake aerobactin (<italic>iutA</italic>), salmochelins (<italic>iroE, iroN</italic>), enterobactin siderophore, adherence, and biofilm formation (<italic>mrkA, mrkB, mrkC, mrkD, mrkF</italic>, and <italic>mrkH</italic>).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our study highlights the ecology and transmission of <italic>K. quasipneumoniae</italic> (which have the ability to disseminate to other environmental sources including animals) outside the clinical setting and the contribution of water, vegetables, and table surfaces as potential reservoirs of farm-to-fork transmission of disease via local markets in Khartoum, Sudan.</p></sec>