Understanding resistance to polymyxin and amikacin in Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae poses a significant global health threat primarily attributable to its pronounced resistance. Here, we report an in vitro acquired resistance analyses of K. pneumoniae to the combination of amikacin and polymyxin B. We found some differentially expressed genes associated with the resistome of K. pneumoniae. The main differences were found in the genes aphA, asmA, phoP, and in the arn operon. Once these genes are related to modification in lipopolysaccharides, aminoglycosides and in the membrane structure, the mechanisms associated with them can justify the resistance acquisition to amikacin and polymyxin b. To investigate the resistance mechanism against amikacin and polymyxin B, we compare a resistant lineage (E6) and a control lineage (C1) after growing in subinhibitory concentrations of polymyxin B and amikacin for 1 hour. Subsequently, we conducted gene expression analysis utilizing RNA-seq data acquired from both lineages. Hence, a comparative gene expression profile of RNA-seq data for C1 and E6 lineages was obtained.