Comparison of isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae of clonal group 15

Representatives of Klebsiella pneumoniae clonal group 15 had been identified by our laboratory using Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) analysis at eleven loci. Unfortunately, however, this method provides little or no resolution within high risk clones such as clonal groups 11, 14, 15, 147 and 307. In order to further investigate the relatedness of isolates belonging to clonal group 15, whole genome sequencing was undertaken on 36 isolates of this type, which included several sets of epidemiologically distinct clusters as well as isolates with no epidemiological link to the others.