Klebsiella variicola is a Gram-negative rod of the Enterobacteriaceae family; it was described as a new bacterial species in 2004 and 2014, respectively. Currently, K. variicola is known to be an endophyte of plants, a symbiont in insects, and a pathogen in humans.. Klebsiella variicola strain:8917 | isolate:8917

To date, the correct identification of the Klebsiella species has not been easily achieved in microbiological laboratories, since several species of this genus share similar biochemical profiles. Commercial kits, both manual and automated, do not include some of the organisms in their databases or the necessary substrates to differentiate species. Some studies have been expressly designed to identify biochemical markers that are able to differentiate K. variicola from K. pneumoniae. For instance the inability to ferment adonitol, which was one of the characteristics used by Rosenblueth et al. A recent study rejected this proposal since it was determined that this biochemical characteristic is variable among different isolates. Currently, the differentiation of K. variicola and K. pneumoniae by means of biochemical tests is not possible. K. variicola and K. qasipneumoniae are ones of the species of the genus Klebsiella that are not even included in commercial kits. K. variicola as a pathogen in humans, symbiont in insects and as an endophyte in plants. This lack of microbiology and molecular tools to differentiate these bacterial species may be reflected in misidentification, such is the case of K. pneumoniae 342 an endophyte in plants, which has been recently included within the cluster of the K. variicola species. This project has as objective the sequencing of several K. variicola clinical and environmental isolates with two main goals: i) development of a multiplex-PCR method to identify K. variicola, based on sequencing a K. variicola clinical isolate (801) and comparing it to other K. variicola, K. qasipneumoniae and K. pneumoniae genomes and ii) A genomic comparison of K. variicola isolates by determinate the characteristics of virulence, pathogenesis and evolution of this bacterial specie.