This article has been updated to correct the location of LifeSequencing.
Researchers from Madrid's Hospital Universitario La Paz Research Institute have sequenced the genomes of three antibiotic-resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae that were isolated from a recent outbreak in a Spanish hospital.
The team sequenced the strains on the 454 GS FLX+ system using Valencia-based service provider LifeSequencing. The sequencing data was assembled using 454's GS De Novo Assembler software and functional annotation was performed with Era 7 Bioinformatics' BG7 system.
The three strains showed an "increasing resistance pattern to a wide range of the antibiotics most commonly used at the hospital," according to a statement.
The researchers now plan to compare the genomes to help understand how antibiotic resistance evolves. Additionally, they will compare the outbreak strains to non-pathogenic strains that are commonly found in the human gut and intestine to try and figure out what makes the organism pathogenic.
"Fast and affordable sequencing of pathogenic bacteria is a huge qualitative and quantitative advance that is radically changing the way researchers and clinicians view the infectious disease process," Jesús Mingorance, lead researcher at the Hospital Universitario La Paz, said in a statement.