Draft Genome Sequence and Biofilm Production of a Carbapenemase-Producing <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> (KpR405) Sequence Type 405 Strain Isolated in Italy
Teresa Fasciana,
Andrea Ciammaruconi,
Bernardina Gentile,
Paola Di Carlo,
Roberta Virruso,
Maria Rita Tricoli,
Daniela Maria Palma,
Giovanna Laura Pitarresi,
Florigio Lista,
Anna Giammanco
Affiliations
Teresa Fasciana
Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Andrea Ciammaruconi
Scientific Department, Army Medical Center, 184 Rome, Italy
Bernardina Gentile
Scientific Department, Army Medical Center, 184 Rome, Italy
Paola Di Carlo
Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Roberta Virruso
Unita Operativa Complessa of Microbiology, Virology and Parassitology, A.O.U.P. “Paolo Giaccone”, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Maria Rita Tricoli
Unita Operativa Complessa of Microbiology, Virology and Parassitology, A.O.U.P. “Paolo Giaccone”, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Daniela Maria Palma
II Intensive Care Unit, ARNAS “Civico, Di Cristina and Benfratelli”, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Giovanna Laura Pitarresi
Unita Operativa Complessa of Microbiology, Virology and Parassitology, A.O.U.P. “Paolo Giaccone”, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Florigio Lista
Scientific Department, Army Medical Center, 184 Rome, Italy
Anna Giammanco
Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Rapid identification and characterization of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains is essential to diagnose severe infections in patients. In clinical routine practice, K. pneumoniae is frequently identified and characterized for outbreak investigation. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis or multilocus sequence typing could be used, but, unfortunately, these methods are time-consuming, laborious, expensive, and do not provide any information about the presence of resistance and virulence genes. In recent years, the decreasing cost of next-generation sequencing and its easy use have led to it being considered a useful method, not only for outbreak surveillance but also for rapid identification and evaluation, in a single step, of virulence factors and resistance genes. Carbapenem-resistant strains of K. pneumoniae have become endemic in Italy, and in these strains the ability to form biofilms, communities of bacteria fixed in an extracellular matrix, can defend the pathogen from the host immune response as well as from antibiotics, improving its persistence in epithelial tissues and on medical device surfaces.
