{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T01:01:37Z","timestamp":1793149297864,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":88,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768348800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768348800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01 AI148197"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 AI148197"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100023581","name":"National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["DGE-2439854"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DGE-2439854"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100023581","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mBio"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      is one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections, and the rise of drug-resistant\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      strains is complicating treatment and contributing to a mounting global health crisis.\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      has two pathotypes: classical (cKp) and hypervirulent (hvKp). CKp typically causes opportunistic infections in immunocompromised individuals in healthcare settings and often is multi-drug resistant. HvKp can be community-acquired and cause high-mortality infections in immunocompetent individuals. Concerningly, antibiotic-resistant cKp strains with hypervirulence-associated genes and traits have recently emerged. Determining if and how hv-associated genes contribute to increased virulence of cKp strains is essential to addressing this growing threat. The\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmpADC<\/jats:italic>\n                      operon is an hv-associated locus that confers hypermucoviscosity (HMV), a key virulence phenotype, and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp<\/jats:italic>\n                      genes are often found in convergent strains. In this study, we aimed to determine if the\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp<\/jats:italic>\n                      genes alone could increase the virulence of cKp strains in the absence of other hv-associated genes. We introduced genetically distinct\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp<\/jats:italic>\n                      loci from different lineages into a broad array of cKp isolates and found that, while many isolates became HMV positive, only a subset of these strains showed an increase in virulence in a mouse model of pneumonia. Sequence type and capsule type were not predictive of how\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp<\/jats:italic>\n                      acquisition impacted the clinical isolates. Our results indicate that HMV is likely necessary but not sufficient for hypervirulence and that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp<\/jats:italic>\n                      sequence can influence virulence potential in cKp strains.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                        is a global pathogen, and gene exchange between hypervirulent (hvKp) and classical (cKp) strains is a rising threat. It is essential to understand how hvKp genes impact virulence phenotypes and identify the cKp strain backgrounds most amenable to enhanced virulence. Hypermucoviscosity (HMV) is a critical virulence factor in hypervirulent\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                        , conferred by the\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmpADC<\/jats:italic>\n                        locus. The\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp<\/jats:italic>\n                        genes are encoded on mobile genetic elements and have been detected in convergent antibiotic-resistant\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                        strains of concern. In this study, we explored the impact of\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp<\/jats:italic>\n                        acquisition in a broad set of classical clinical isolates. We observed that HMV appears necessary, but not sufficient, for increased virulence. Sequence type, capsule type, and HMV capacity could not predict which classical isolates gain an\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rmp-<\/jats:italic>\n                        dependent colonization benefit. These insights increase our understanding of the distinctions between cKp and hvKp and further our ability to identify and treat new strains of concern.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.03122-25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]],"date-time":"2025-12-09T12:12:39Z","timestamp":1765282359000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["The acquisition of\n                    <i>rmpADC<\/i>\n                    can increase virulence of classical\n                    <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/i>\n                    in the absence of other hypervirulence-associated genes"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6278-7837","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephen M.","family":"Salisbury","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine","place":["Chapel Hill, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-9304-2413","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Taryn A.","family":"Miner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine","place":["Chapel Hill, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3195-0247","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Leslie A.","family":"Kent","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine","place":["Chapel Hill, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Margaret M. 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