A plasmid locus associated with Klebsiella clinical infections encodes a microbiome-dependent gut fitness factor.

Vornhagen, Jay, Bassis, Christine M, Ramakrishnan, Srividya, Hein, Robert, Mason, Sophia, Bergman, Yehudit, Sunshine, Nicole, Fan, Yunfan, Holmes, Caitlyn L, Timp, Winston, Schatz, Michael C, Young, Vincent B, Simner, Patricia J, Bachman, Michael A (April 2021) A plasmid locus associated with Klebsiella clinical infections encodes a microbiome-dependent gut fitness factor. PLoS Pathogens, 17 (4). e1009537. ISSN 1553-7366

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Abstract

Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) is an important cause of healthcare-associated infections, which increases patient morbidity, mortality, and hospitalization costs. Gut colonization by Kp is consistently associated with subsequent Kp disease, and patients are predominantly infected with their colonizing strain. Our previous comparative genomics study, between disease-causing and asymptomatically colonizing Kp isolates, identified a plasmid-encoded tellurite (TeO3-2)-resistance (ter) operon as strongly associated with infection. However, TeO3-2 is extremely rare and toxic to humans. Thus, we used a multidisciplinary approach to determine the biological link between ter and Kp infection. First, we used a genomic and bioinformatic approach to extensively characterize Kp plasmids encoding the ter locus. These plasmids displayed substantial variation in plasmid incompatibility type and gene content. Moreover, the ter operon was genetically independent of other plasmid-encoded virulence and antibiotic resistance loci, both in our original patient cohort and in a large set (n = 88) of publicly available ter operon-encoding Kp plasmids, indicating that the ter operon is likely playing a direct, but yet undescribed role in Kp disease. Next, we employed multiple mouse models of infection and colonization to show that 1) the ter operon is dispensable during bacteremia, 2) the ter operon enhances fitness in the gut, 3) this phenotype is dependent on the colony of origin of mice, and 4) antibiotic disruption of the gut microbiota eliminates the requirement for ter. Furthermore, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we show that the ter operon enhances Kp fitness in the gut in the presence of specific indigenous microbiota, including those predicted to produce short chain fatty acids. Finally, administration of exogenous short-chain fatty acids in our mouse model of colonization was sufficient to reduce fitness of a ter mutant. These findings indicate that the ter operon, strongly associated with human infection, encodes factors that resist stress induced by the indigenous gut microbiota during colonization. This work represents a substantial advancement in our molecular understanding of Kp pathogenesis and gut colonization, directly relevant to Kp disease in healthcare settings.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: diseases & disorders > Bacterial Infections
bioinformatics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics
organism description > animal
organism description > animal > mammal
organism description > animal > mammal > rodent > mouse
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > mutations
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > operons
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > plasmid
organism description > animal > mammal > rodent
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Schatz lab
SWORD Depositor: CSHL Elements
Depositing User: CSHL Elements
Date: 30 April 2021
Date Deposited: 07 May 2021 17:23
Last Modified: 25 Jan 2024 20:36
PMCID: PMC8115787
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/40050

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