1 research outputs found
Inorganic Polyphosphate Affects Biofilm Assembly, Capsule Formation, and Virulence of Hypervirulent ST23 Klebsiella pneumoniae
The emergence of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) strains poses a significant
threat to public health due to
high mortality rates and propensity to cause severe community-acquired
infections in healthy individuals. The ability to form biofilms and
produce a protective capsule contributes to its enhanced virulence
and is a significant challenge to effective antibiotic treatment.
Polyphosphate kinase 1 (PPK1) is an enzyme responsible for inorganic
polyphosphate synthesis and plays a vital role in regulating various
physiological processes in bacteria. In this study, we investigated
the impact of polyP metabolism on the biofilm and capsule formation
and virulence traits in hvKP using Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba as a model host. We found that the PPK1 null mutant was impaired
in biofilm and capsule formation and showed attenuated virulence in D. discoideum compared to the wild-type strain. We
performed a proteomic analysis to gain further insights into the underlying
molecular mechanism. The results revealed that the PPK1 mutant had
a differential expression of proteins involved in capsule synthesis
(Wzi-Ugd), biofilm formation (MrkC-D-H), synthesis of the colibactin
genotoxin precursor (ClbB), as well as proteins associated with the
synthesis and modification of lipid A (ArnB-LpxC-PagP). These proteomic
findings corroborate the phenotypic observations and indicate that
the PPK1 mutation is associated with impaired biofilm and capsule
formation and attenuated virulence in hvKP. Overall, our study highlights
the importance of polyP synthesis in regulating extracellular biomolecules
and virulence in K. pneumoniae and
provides insights into potential therapeutic targets for treating K. pneumoniae infections