Dr Olaya Rendueles - Nothing Comes for Free: How Much Can Klebsiella pneumoniae Afford?

Olaya Rendueles

Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Toulouse

Nothing Comes for Free: How Much Can Klebsiella pneumoniae Afford?

Our team is broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of microbes and their social interactions. We focus on competition and horizontal gene transfer events mediated by mobile genetic elements such as plasmids and phages.
Specifically, we study microbial surface structures, such as the extracellular capsule, a major driver of social interactions and adaptation to novel environments. We combine computational and experimental approaches using the gram-negative enterobacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae as a model system.
During this seminar I will present you an overview of our most recent work aiming to test evolutionary theories. I will discuss how our findings contribute to our understanding of the evolution of virulence and the spread of antimicrobial resistance, as well as their potential implications for the development of alternative strategies to conventional antimicrobials
Selected references

• Le Bris J, […], Rendueles O. Plug-and-play evolution of the Klebsiella pneumoniae capsule locus enables serotype exchange across genetic backgrounds. PLoS Biol. 2026 Mar 25;24(3):e3003724. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003724.
• Nucci A, […], Rendueles O. Phenotypic heterogeneity of capsule production across opportunistic pathogens. mBio. 2025 Oct 8;16(10):e0180725. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01807-25.
• Haudiquet M, […], Rendueles O. Capsules and their traits shape phage susceptibility and plasmid conjugation efficiency. Nat Commun. 2024 Mar 6;15(1):2032. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46147-5
• Rendueles O, de Sousa JAM, Rocha EPC. Competition between lysogenic and sensitive bacteria is determined by the fitness costs of the different emerging phage-resistance strategies. Elife. 2023 Mar 28;12:e83479. doi: 10.7554/eLife.83479
• Haudiquet M, Buffet A, Rendueles O, Rocha EPC. Interplay between the cell envelope and mobile genetic elements shapes gene flow in populations of the nosocomial pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae. PLoS Biol. 2021 Jul 6;19(7):e3001276. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001276

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