A conjugative plasmid that augments virulence in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

A virulence-encoding plasmid, p15WZ-82_Vir, which formed as a result of the integration of a 100-kb fragment of the hypervirulence plasmid pLVPK into a conjugative IncFIB plasmid, was recovered from a clinical Klebsiella variicola strain. Such a plasmid could be conjugated to carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella strains, enabling them to simultaneously express the carbapenem resistance- and hypervirulence-associated phenotypes. Unlike the non-conjugative pLVPK plasmid, emergence of p15WZ-82_Vir may promote rapid dissemination of virulence-encoding elements among Gram-negative bacterial pathogens.