PEAK: Plasmid Evolution and Antimicrobial resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to public health that is predicted to get worse in the future. One of the most common methods that bacteria use to resist antibiotics is to acquire resistance genes. These are often located on pieces of DNA called plasmids. Plasmids carrying resistance genes are more common in clinical settings than in the general population, and understanding why we have this difference is very important for understanding how resistant bacteria spread. However, plasmids evolve quickly and can spread between different strains of bacteria. This makes it difficult for us to classify and monitor them. In PEAK, we will use new sequencing technologies and develop new methods to research how plasmids evolve and spread, with a focus on the important pathogenic bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae. We will develop new methods to classify plasmids and analyze the genetic differences between plasmid groups. We will then use these plasmid groups to research how plasmids spread between different environments and types of Klebsiella. We will then perform detailed analyses of the genetic changes that drive the evolution of plasmids. The goal is to use the new methods and knowledge to improve surveillance, both of AMR Klebsiella pneumoniae and other bacterial strains.