Development of a novel multilocus sequence typing for Klebsiella oxytoca isolated from patients with antibiotic-associated hemorrhagic colitis yields insights to niche adaptation…

Background: Klebsiella oxytoca is an opportunistic pathogen and causes diseases like antibiotic-associated hemorrhagic colitis (AAHC) and nosocomial pneumonia. The latter is thought to be caused by strains originating from the intestine. A subgroup of K. oxytoca isolates produces a non-ribosomal cytotoxic peptide, which induces colitis in AAHC and is absent from other Klebsiella spp. Previous attempts to assess the genetic relatedness of K. oxytoca isolates using typing methods such as pulsed field gel electrophoresis were not successful in discriminating different subtypes. To move forward we established a nove…