Master's thesis defense by student Najlaa Abd Fouad

On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, student Najlaa Abd Fouad from the Department of Microbiology successfully defended her Master's thesis entitled:

**Study the Association of Aerobactin Gene Expression Level, Phylogenetic Typing, DNA Methylation Genotyping, and Antibiotic Susceptibility in Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from Patients**

This study aimed to identify and differentiate between the two pathogenic types of Klebsiella pneumoniae, the classical and hypervirulent types, by targeting their specific virulence genes (K1, K2, iutA, P-rmpA, c-rmpA, magA). Additionally, the study sought to find a correlation between the virulence genes of these strains and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns.

Results: The string test showed that 103 out of 132 were pure Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates on MacConkey agar, and 29 out of 132 were mixed isolates with other bacteria on MacConkey agar.