Comparative genomic analyses of Klebsiella pneumoniae K57 capsule serotypes isolated from bovine mastitis in China

Klebsiella pneumoniae can cause severe clinical mastitis in dairy cows, with K. pneumoniae type K57 (K57-KP) being the most common capsular serotype. To identify virulence factors and antimicrobial-resistance (AMR) genes of K57-KP with varying virulence, Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) larvae were infected as a screening model to characterize virulence of 90 K57-KP strains, with 10 and 11 strains defined as virulent or attenuated, respectively, based on larval survival rates. Next, virulence of these 21 isolates was subsequently confirmed in adhesion and lactate dehydrogenase release assays, using bovine mammary epithelial cells cultured in vitro. Finally, genes associated with virulence and AMR were characterize with whole-genome sequencing. These 21 K57-KP strains were designated into 16 sequence types based on multi-locus sequence typing and allocated in phylogenetic analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphisms. We found great genetic diversity among isolates. In addition, adhesion-associated genes (e.g., fimA, sfaA, and focA) aminoglycoside-resistance genes (aph(6)-Id, strAB) were associated with virulence. This study provided new knowledge regarding virulence of K57-KP associated with bovine mastitis, which may inform development of novel diagnostic tools and prevention strategies for bovine mastitis.