title: Klebsiella: a long way to go towards understanding this enigmatic jet-setter.
abstract: Klebsiella pneumoniae is the causative agent of a variety of diseases, including pneumonia, urinary tract infections, septicemia, and the recently recognized pyogenic liver abscesses (PLA). Renewed efforts to identify and understand the bacterial determinants required to cause disease have come about because of the worldwide increase in the isolation of strains resistant to a broad spectrum of antibiotics. The recent increased isolation of carbapenem-resistant strains further reduces the available treatment options. The rapid geographic spread of the resistant isolates and the spread to other pathogens are of particular concern. For many years, the best characterized virulence determinants were capsule, lipopolysaccharide, siderophores, and types 1 and 3 fimbriae. Recent efforts to expand this list include in vivo screens and whole-genome sequencing. However, we still know little about how this bacterium is able to cause disease. Some recent clonal analyses of K. pneumoniae strains indicate that there are distinct clonal groups, some of which may be associated with specific disease syndromes. However, what makes one clonal group more virulent and what changes the disease pattern are not yet clear and remain important questions for the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 125 Mason Farm Road, 6101 Marsico Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7290 USA.
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Broberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 125 Mason Farm Road, 6101 Marsico Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7290 USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 125 Mason Farm Road, 6101 Marsico Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7290 USA ; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 120 Mason Farm Road, 5000D Genetic Medicine Building, CB#7264, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA.
authors.forename: Virginia L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Miller