Title: Antibiotic-resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae harbouring novel virulence proteins with rising temperature
Abstract:
Antimicrobial resistance (among bacteria and other germs) is a significant cause of concern because it is reported/expected to result in as many as 10 million deaths worldwide by 2050 (1-3). Overuse of antibiotics, a slow discovery of new antibiotics, a shortage of healthcare resources, and a rise in global temperature have all contributed to the rise of multidrug-resistant, deadly bacterial strains. Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the multi-drug-resistant virulent strains that cause several human infections. Klebsiella pneumoniae has recently been reported for its high prevalence and novel virulent determinants due to temperature-dependent genetic transfer and pathogenic modification of drug-resistance genes Klebsiella pneumoniae. Several current studies assess the connection between temperature rising, virulence and antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. For instance, Weibin Li at al. reported that a 1 C increase in average ambient temperature was associated with a 1.14-fold increase in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (4). Another study by MacFadden et al. (5) showed that an increase in temperature of 10°C across regions was associated with an increase in antibiotic resistance of 2.2% in Klebsiella pneumoniae (5). Moreover, increased temperature facilitated the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains between humans, animals and the environment (6, 7). Therefore, temperature rising is a vital factor responsible for increasing Klebsiella pneumoniae antibiotic resistance associated with the expression of different unique and potentially virulent factors like aminoglycoside O-phosphotransferase, lipopolysaccharide proteins, tyrosine-protein kinase, peroxidase proteins and ELaB protein (8, 9). However, the underlying mechanisms of increased temperature-facilitated antibiotic resistance and expression of virulent proteins in Klebsiella pneumoniae are still under investigation. This study will explore how rising temperature is associated with multi-drug resistance genes like extended-spectrum β lactamases (ESBLs) and their involvement in the pathogenic modification of ESBL- producing of Klebsiella pneumoniae in terms of structural and functional changes of different virulent proteins.
