Acquisition of a novel conjugative multidrug‐resistant hypervirulent plasmid leads to hypervirulence in clinical carbapenem‐resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains

Abstract

Abstract The co‐occurrence of plasmid‐mediated multidrug resistance and hypervirulence in epidemic carbapenem‐resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae has emerged as a global public health issue. In this study, an ST23 carbapenem‐resistant hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (CR‐HvKP) strain VH1‐2 was identified from cucumber in China and harbored a novel hybrid plasmid pVH1‐2‐VIR. The plasmid pVH1‐2‐VIR carrying both virulence and multidrug‐resistance (MDR) genes was likely generated through the recombination of a virulence plasmid and an IncFIIK conjugative MDR plasmid in clinical ST23 18622 isolated from a sputum sample. The plasmid pVH1‐2‐VIR exhibited the capacity for transfer to the clinical ST11 carbapenem‐resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP) strain via conjugation assay. Acquisition of pVH1‐2‐VIR plasmid directly converted a CRKP into CR‐HvKP strain characterized by hypermucoviscosity, heightened virulence for Galleria mellonella larvae, and increased colonization ability in the mouse intestine. The emergence of such a hybrid plasmid may expedite the spread of CR‐HvKP strains, posing a significant risk to human health.

Keywords

• conjugative virulence plasmid
• CR‐HvKP
• hybrid plasmid
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
• ST23