New vectors and optimal conditions for allelic exchange in hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae.

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae is a significant global health threat that has led to increased morbidity and mortality. This resistance also hinders basic research, as many strains are no longer susceptible to antibiotics commonly used in microbial genetics. Addressing this requires the development of new genetic tools with alternative selective markers.

Shedding light on Klebsiella pneumoniae virulence: Engineering of broad host range bioluminescence reporter vectors for transcriptional analysis in drug resistant pathogens.

In this work, we report the construction of four bacterial luciferase-based promoter probe vectors with an expanded set of selectable markers, designed to facilitate their use in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These vectors contain the low-copy-number, broad-host-range pBBR origin of replication and an origin of transfer, allowing efficient conjugative transformation into various bacterial genera. The broad host range origin also enables their use in bacterial strains that harbor other plasmids, as the pBBR origin is compatible with a wide variety of other plasmid replication systems.

TolC contributes to antimicrobial resistance, exopolysaccharide production, and virulence.

is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes a variety of human diseases, ranging from pneumonia to urinary tract infections and invasive diseases. The emergence of strains that are resistant to multiple antibiotics has made treatment more complex and led to becoming a global health threat. Addressing this threat necessitates the development of new therapeutic strategies to combat this pathogen, including strategies to overcome antimicrobial resistance and therapeutics for novel targets such as antivirulence.