Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 is one of the most widespread high-risk clones globally. A 27 kb genomic island, ICEKp258.2, has been identified within this sequence type and appears to be specific to it. This island contains approximately thirty open reading frames (ORFs), including a gene encoding a Mod methyltransferase that is part of a type III restriction–modification system.
An isogenic mutant lacking this methyltransferase has been generated. The objective of this project is to investigate the impact of this enzyme on the epigenetic regulation of ST258, in order to better understand the potential advantages conferred by ICEKp258.2 that may contribute to the global dissemination and success of this clone.
