KlebPhaCol: a community-driven resource for Klebsiella research identified a novel phage family

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Virology
• Genomics

Background:

• Multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae poses a significant public health threat, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies like bacteriophage therapy.
• Clinical application of bacteriophages is hindered by limited understanding of phage-bacteria interactions and fragmented access to characterized phage-bacteria pairings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish an open-access resource of well-characterized Klebsiella phages and bacterial isolates.
• To facilitate research into Klebsiella-phage interactions for potential therapeutic and mechanistic insights.

Main Methods:

• Compilation of 52 Klebsiella-targeting phages and 74 Klebsiella isolates.
• Phenotypic and genomic characterization of the phages and isolates.
• Inclusion of phages spanning six families, including the novel gut-associated Felixviridae.

Main Results:

• The Klebsiella Phage Collection (KlebPhaC) comprises 52 phages and 74 isolates, targeting 20 sequence types and 19 capsular-locus types across 6 Klebsiella species.
• The collection includes phages from six families, notably the novel Felixviridae family.
• The resource is publicly accessible at www.klebphacol.org.

Conclusions:

• KlebPhaC addresses the need for accessible, characterized phage-bacteria data to advance bacteriophage therapy for Klebsiella infections.
• The resource promotes collaborative research to deepen the understanding of Klebsiella-phage interactions.
• This initiative supports the development of novel treatments against multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.