Transmissibility and Persistence of the Plasmid-Borne Mobile Colistin Resistance Gene, mcr-1 , Harbored in Poultry-Associated E. coli
Colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, is used to treat infections caused by multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Colistin resistance can emerge by acquiring the mobile colistin gene, , usually plasmid borne. Studies on and its transmissibility are limited in the Middle East and North Africa (M...
Saved in:
Published in: | Antibiotics (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 6; p. 774 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Journal Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Switzerland
MDPI AG
07-06-2022
MDPI |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, is used to treat infections caused by multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Colistin resistance can emerge by acquiring the mobile colistin gene,
, usually plasmid borne. Studies on
and its transmissibility are limited in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Here, we investigated the occurrence of
in 18 previously collected
isolates collected from chicken samples in Qatar; whole-genome sequencing was performed to determine the location (plasmid-borne and chromosomal) of
in the isolates. Additionally, we assessed the transmissibility of plasmid-borne
and its cost on fitness in
biofilms. Our results showed that the
isolates belonged to different sequence types, indicating that
was occurring in strains with diverse genetic backgrounds. In silico analysis and transformation assays showed that all the isolates carried
on plasmids that were mainly IncI2 types. All the
plasmids were found to be transmissible by conjugation. In biofilms, a significant reduction in the number of CFU (≈0.055 logs CFU/mL) and colistin resistance (≈2.19 log CFU/mL) was observed; however, the reduction in resistance was significantly larger, indicating that the plasmids incur a high fitness cost. To our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates
transmissibility and persistence in Qatar. Our findings highlight that
has the potential to spread colistin resistance to potentially disparate strains and niches in Qatar, posing a risk that requires intervention. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 These authors contributed equally to this work. |
ISSN: | 2079-6382 2079-6382 |
DOI: | 10.3390/antibiotics11060774 |