KlebPhaCol: A community-driven resource for Klebsiella research identified a novel gut phage order associated with the human gut

Abstract The growing threat of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae , coupled with its role in gut colonisation, has intensified the search for new treatments, including bacteriophage therapy. Despite increasing documentation of Klebsiella- targeting phages, clinical applications remain limited, with key phage-bacteria interactions still poorly understood. A major obstacle is fragmented access to well-characterised phage-bacteria pairings, restricting the collective advancement of therapeutic and mechanistic insights. To address this gap, we created the Klebsiella Phage Collection (KlebPhaCol), an open-source resource comprising 53 phages and 74 Klebsiella isolates, all fully characterised. These phages span five families – including a novel order, Felixvirales , associated with the human gut – and target 27 sequence types (including ST258, ST11, ST14) and 28 capsular-locus types (including KL1 and KL2), across six Klebsiella species. Freely accessible at www.klebphacol.org , KlebPhaCol invites the scientific community to both use and contribute to this resource, fostering collaborative research and a deeper understanding of Klebsiella- phage interactions beyond therapeutic use.