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It has rapidly become a significant global public health threat due to the emergence of hypervirulent and multidrug-resistant strains, which have increased the challenges associated with treating life-threatening infections. Tellurium resistance genes are widespread on virulence plasmids in\n              <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n              isolates. However, the core function of the\n              <jats:italic>ter<\/jats:italic>\n              operon (\n              <jats:italic>terZABCDEF<\/jats:italic>\n              ) in\n              <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n              remains unclear. In this study, the multidrug-resistant\n              <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n              P1927 strain was isolated from the sputum of a hospitalized pneumonia patient. The\n              <jats:italic>ter<\/jats:italic>\n              operon, along with antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes, was identified on a large hybrid plasmid in\n              <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n              P1927. We generated a\n              <jats:italic>terC<\/jats:italic>\n              deletion mutant and demonstrated that this mutant exhibited reduced virulence in a\n              <jats:italic>Galleria mellonella<\/jats:italic>\n              larva infection model. Further physiological functional analysis revealed that\n              <jats:italic>terC<\/jats:italic>\n              is not only important for Te(IV) resistance but also for resistance to Zn(II), Mn(II), and phage infection. All genes of the\n              <jats:italic>ter<\/jats:italic>\n              operon were highly inducible by Zn(II), which is a stronger inducer than Te(IV), and the\n              <jats:italic>terBCDE<\/jats:italic>\n              genes were also induced by Mn(II). Collectively, our study demonstrates novel physiological functions of TerC in Zn(II) resistance and virulence in\n              <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n              .\n            <\/jats:p>\n            <jats:sec>\n              <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n              <jats:p>\n                <jats:italic>Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                has rapidly become a global threat to public health. Although the\n                <jats:italic>ter<\/jats:italic>\n                operon is widely identified in clinical isolates, its physiological function remains unclear. It has been proposed that proteins encoded by the\n                <jats:italic>ter<\/jats:italic>\n                operon form a multi-site metal-binding complex, but its exact function is still unknown. TerC, a central component of the tellurium resistance determinant, was previously shown to interact with outer membrane proteins OmpA and KpsD in\n                <jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic>\n                , suggesting potential changes in outer membrane structure and properties. Here, we report that TerC confers resistance to Zn(II), Mn(II), and phage infection, and Zn(II) was shown to be a strong inducer of the\n                <jats:italic>ter<\/jats:italic>\n                operon. Furthermore, TerC was identified as a novel virulence factor. Taken together, our results expand our understanding of the physiological functions encoded by the\n                <jats:italic>ter<\/jats:italic>\n                operon and its role in the virulence of\n                <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                , providing deeper insights into the link between heavy metal(loid) resistance determinants and virulence in pathogenic bacteria.\n              <\/jats:p>\n            <\/jats:sec>\n          <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.02634-24","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]],"date-time":"2025-04-09T17:06:51Z","timestamp":1744218411000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The\n            <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/i>\n            tellurium resistance gene\n            <i>terC<\/i>\n            contributes to both tellurite and zinc resistance"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ruixiang","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Environmental Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shuang","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Environmental Health and Regulation, College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanshuang","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Environmental Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]},{"name":"Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Environmental Health and Regulation, College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongru","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Big Data Engineering, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical College of Fujian Medical University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]},{"name":"Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Fujian Shengli Medical College, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian Medical University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3832-3249","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"John D.","family":"Helmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Cornell University","place":["Ithaca, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katharina","family":"Schaufler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Ecology of Antimicrobial Resistance, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research HZI, Helmholtz Institute for One Health","place":["Greifswald, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6347-0208","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Michael D. 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