Coexistence of carbapenemase and hypervirulence-associated genes among Klebsiella pneumoniae high-risk clones in Hungary.

Authors

Lilla Buzgó, Csongor Freytag, Dániel Göbhardter, Levente Laczkó, László Miló, Leila Holub, Adrienn Hanczvikkel, Erika Ungvári, László Majoros, Katalin Kamotsay, Katalin Papp, Katalin Kristóf, Gábor Kardos, Ákos Tóth

Published in

Frontiers in microbiology. Volume 17. Pages 1870558. Epub Aug 19, 2026.

Abstract

Strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae carrying hypervirulence and carbapenemase genes represent a rapidly emerging global public health threat. Our study aimed to comprehensively characterise the genomics of hypervirulence-associated and carbapenemase genes carrying K. pneumoniae (hv(a)CpKp) isolates in Hungary.
Between January 2022 and April 2024, 89 aerobactin (iucA-D/iutA)-positive non-duplicate carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae isolates from 15 Hungarian healthcare institutes underwent short-read (Illumina, MiSeq, NextSeq) whole-genome sequencing, followed by detailed plasmid analysis using long-read sequencing (Nanopore, MinION) in a representative subset of 32 strains.
Most isolates (79/89) belonged to the high-risk clone ST147. Hypervirulence-associated (hva) genes-including rmpA/rmpA2, peg344, shiF, iucA-D, and iutA-were universally present, and 59 isolates possessed chromosomally integrated yersiniabactin loci. Most isolates (87/89) carried the bla _NDM-1 carbapenemase gene. Hypervirulence-associated genes were most frequently (29/32) associated with IncHI1B/IncFIB(Mar) plasmids. Notably, we identified plasmids carrying both hva and carbapenemase genes-designated as hybrid plasmids-in 13 of 32 strains. The bla _NDM-1 was linked to the IS26 transposase and was present in conserved, identical cassettes on all bla _NDM-1-carrying plasmids.
Our study identified hv(a)CpKp strains, particularly the ST147 clone, circulating in Hungary. Our findings highlight the need for routine virulence gene monitoring and continuous genomic and plasmid-based surveillance to mitigate the clinical and epidemiological impact of emerging hv(a)CpKp lineages.

PMID:
42688289
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 03 Sep 2026.

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