Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English en
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Exploiting intra-species diversity to identify genomic properties that affect the cell biology, proliferation and pathogenicity of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Objective

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause particularly serious disease and mortality in immune-compromised, elderly, or otherwise vulnerable individuals. A high burden of mortality is attributed to K. pneumoniae: a 2019 study estimated that K. pneumoniae was associated with 790.000 deaths that year. Due to its incidence, mortality, and growing antibiotic resistance, the World Health Organization placed K. pneumoniae at the top of the Bacterial Priority Pathogens List in 2024, highlighting its danger to public health. Despite the high healthcare burden posed by K. pneumoniae, it remains a rather understudied pathogen, particularly regarding non-canonical virulence factors. Antibiotic resistance, for example, is rather well-studied in the pathogen, but our understanding of K. pneumoniae physiology, including the keys to its growth, replication, and survival in diverse environments is limited. K. pneumoniae displays extensive intra-specific diversity, with its pangenome encoding close to 30.000 protein-coding sequences. The general goal of this proposal is to exploit the extensive intra-species diversity of K. pneumoniae to determine how specific genomic properties affect cellular physiology, contribute to growth and proliferation, and underlie pathogenicity. The functional role of selected regions will subsequently be determined in more detail. K. pneumoniae intraspecific diversity will be investigated using a library of 100-200 strains across different growth conditions and antibiotics. A high-throughput cell imaging system will be used to collect various phenotypic measures. Next, genomic studies will uncover genetic differences among the strains, and these differences will be connected to phenotype. Finally, genetic manipulation will be used to confirm the effect of these genetic differences. Such knowledge about the pathogen’s genetic components for success is important in managing K. pneumoniae infections more effectively in the future.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 200 400,00
Address
OUDE MARKT 13
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium

See on map

Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Vlaams-Brabant Arr. Leuven
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0