In a breakthrough discovery, the researchers from IIT Jodhpur along with AIIMS found some unknown factors possibly responsible for virulence in Klebsiella Bacteria. A bacteria called Klebsiella pneumoniae is a major cause of hospital-acquired infection.
The researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IIT Jodhpur) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have found during their joint study that the bacteria, Klebsiella Pneumoniae, is the major cause of hospital infection. Their discovery revealed that the bacteria develop a viscous protective covering around itself, which could be one of the major causes of its antibiotic resistance and high virulence.
The research has been published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum and their study was conducted in association with the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). Moreover, the study applies the use of genomics with molecular biology approaches in identifying new genes behind the bacterial potency.
Shankar Manoharan, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, IIT Jodhpur, said, “One of how Klebsiella pneumoniae escapes the body’s immune system and antibiotics are by producing an extremely sticky and viscous protective covering (hypermucoviscosity) around itself.”
