Klebsiella pneumoniae outer membrane vesicles mediate the transfer of carbapenem resistance genes

To investigate how antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) enter infants who have not been exposed to antibiotics during their life, we hypothesised that outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) released by carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) cloned in the maternal gut could cross the placental barrier from mother to fetus and ensure expression of the blaKPC plasmid in infant commensal bacteria.