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declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions MH carried out the growth experiments, OxyBlot assay, gene expression studies, CAS-plate assay, H2O2 susceptibility test, participated in the AP26113 datasheet design of experiments, analysis of collected data and drafting of the manuscript. HL carried out the catalase assay, ferrozine assay and statistical analysis, conceived of, and designed the

experiments, analyzed the collected data and drafted the manuscript. AS conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, and drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Klebsiella pneumoniae is responsible for a wide spectrum of clinical syndromes, including purulent infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, bacteremia, septicemia, and meningitis [1]. In the past three decades, K. pneumoniae has emerged as the single leading cause of pyogenic liver abscess in East Asian countries, especially in Taiwan [2–7]. An invasive syndrome of liver abscess complicated by meningitis, endophthalmitis or other metastatic suppurative foci has been reported, and capsular serotypes K1 and K2 of K. pneumoniae are thought to the major virulence Doramapimod manufacturer determinants responsible for this syndrome [3, 6, 8]. In an analysis of K. pneumoniae liver abscess from two hospitals in New York by Rahimian et al. [9], 78.3% of patients were of Asian origin. These findings raise Rebamipide the possibility that genetic susceptibility to or geographic distribution patterns of virulent K. pneumoniae subtypes may play important roles [10]. The intestine is one of the major

reservoirs of K. pneumoniae, and epidemiological studies have suggested that the majority of K. pneumoniae infections are preceded by colonization of the gastrointestinal tract [11]. The possibility of fecal-oral transmission has been raised on the basis of molecular typing of isolates from siblings, family members, and the environment in one study from Taiwan [12]. One recent study from Japan has demonstrated the familial spread of a virulent clone of K. pneumoniae causing primary liver abscess, and has provided evidence that virulent clones of K. pneumoniae have colonized family members for at least 2 years [13]. However, data on the serotype distribution of K. pneumoniae in stool samples from healthy individuals has not been previously reported. To explore the ethnicity and geographical question regarding the serotype distribution of K. pneumoniae from fecal isolates in different countries, we focused on the same population but in different countries.