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Infection and Immunity, November 1999, p. 6152-6156, Vol. 67, No. 11
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Klebsiella pneumoniae Capsule Expression Is Necessary for Colonization of Large Intestines of Streptomycin-Treated Mice

Sabine Favre-Bonté,1,2 Tine Rask Licht,1,3 Christiane Forestier,2 and Karen Angeliki Krogfelt1,*

Department of Gastrointestinal Infections, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen,1 and Department of Microbiology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby,3 Denmark, and Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université d'Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France2

Received 8 April 1999/Returned for modification 9 June 1999/Accepted 10 August 1999

The role of the Klebsiella pneumoniae capsular polysaccharide (K antigen) during colonization of the mouse large intestine was assessed with wild-type K. pneumoniae LM21 and its isogenic capsule-defective mutant. When bacterial strains were fed alone to mice, the capsulated bacteria persisted in the intestinal tract at levels of 108 CFU/g of feces while the capsule-defective strain colonized at low levels, 104 CFU/g of feces. In mixed-infection experiments, the mutant was rapidly outcompeted by the wild type. In situ hybridization on colonic sections revealed that bacterial cells of both strains were evenly distributed in the mucus layer at day 1 after infection, while at day 20 the wild type remained dispersed and the capsule-defective strain was seen in clusters in the mucus layer. These results suggest that capsular polysaccharide plays an important role in the gut colonization ability of K. pneumoniae.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Gastrointestinal Infections, Statens Serum Institut, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark. Phone: 45 32 68 37 45. Fax: 45 32 68 38 73. E-mail: kak{at}ssi.dk.

Infection and Immunity, November 1999, p. 6152-6156, Vol. 67, No. 11
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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