Rank: Species

Lineage: Bacteria;Proteobacteria;Gammaproteobacteria;Enterobacterales;Enterobacteriaceae;Klebsiella;Klebsiella pneumoniae

Description: This organism is the most medically important organism within the genus Klebsiella. It is an environmental organism found in water, soil, and on the surface of plants. Several strains have been isolated from plant tissues and are nitrogen-fixing endophytes that may be a source of nitrogen for the plant. Other strains can become opportunistic pathogens which infect humans, and typically causes hospital-acquired infections in immunocompromised patients. Major sites of infection include the lungs, where it causes a type of pneumonia, and urinary tract infections. Klebsiella can also enter the bloodstream (bacterimia) and cause sepsis. The pathogen can also infect animals and cause inflammation of the uterus in horses as well as more generalized infections in other mammals.This organism expresses numerous pathogenicity factors, including multiple adhesins, capsular polysaccharide, siderophores, and lipopolysaccharide for the evasion of host defenses. Capsular polysaccharide (K antigen), for example, prevents phagocytosis. The multiple antibiotic resistance genes carried on the chromosome inhibit efforts to clear the organism from infected patients via antibiotic use. Many of the virulence factors remain to be elucidated. More >> Less >>

Reference Material:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/?term=Klebsiella%20pneumoniae