Bacterium
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Encapsulated lactose-fermenting rod
kleb-see-EL-uh noo-MOH-nee-eye
High-yield clue
Lactose-fermenting Gram-negative rod + capsule/mucoid vocabulary.
Overview
An encapsulated Enterobacterales organism used to teach mucoid colony vocabulary, lactose fermentation, and ESBL/CRE resistance concepts.
Classification
- Gram-negative
- Rod
- Enterobacterales
- Lactose fermenter
Lab & identification clues
- MacConkey lactose-fermenter vocabulary
- Capsule concept
- Urease-positive teaching contrast
Associations
- Pneumonia vocabulary
- UTI coursework association
- ESBL and CRE resistance framing
Commonly confused with
- Escherichia coli
- Proteus mirabilis
Your notes
Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.