Antimicrobial resistance, pathogenic potential, and genomic features of carbapenem-resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> isolated in Chile: high-risk ST25 clones and novel mobile elements

In the ongoing antimicrobial resistance crisis, carbapenem-resistant strains of <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> are critical threats to public health. Besides globally disseminated clones, the burden of local problem clones remains substantial. Although genomic analysis is a powerful tool for improving pathogen and antimicrobial resistance surveillance, it is still restricted in low- to middle-income countries, including Chile, causing them to be underrepresented in genomic databases and epidemiology surveys. This study provided the first 10 complete genomes of the Chilean surveillance for carbapenem-resistant <i>K. pneumoniae</i> in healthcare settings, unveiling their resistance and virulence determinants and the mobile genetic elements mediating their dissemination, placed in the South American and global <i>K. pneumoniae</i> epidemiological context. We found ST25 with K2 capsule as an emerging high-risk clone, along with other lineages producing two carbapenemases and several other resistance and virulence genes encoded in novel plasmids and genomic islands.