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Case Reports
. 2020 Jun 26;9(1):94.
doi: 10.1186/s13756-020-00759-w.

First report of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mcr-8.1 gene from a clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate from Lebanon

Tamara Salloum  1 , Balig Panossian  1 , Ibrahim Bitar  2   3 , Jaroslav Hrabak  2   3 , George F Araj  4 , Sima Tokajian  5
Affiliations
Case Reports

First report of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mcr-8.1 gene from a clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate from Lebanon

Tamara Salloum et al. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. .

Abstract

Colistin is considered as a last resort treatment for infections caused by multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Plasmid-mediated mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes contributed to the global spread of colistin resistance. This is the first report of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mcr-8 gene from a clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae K9 isolate recovered from Lebanon. The isolate was characterized phenotypically and genotypically through both short and long read whole-genome sequencing, plasmid typing and conjugation assays. k9 belonged to sequence type 15 and harbored 31 antimicrobial resistance genes. The mcr-8.1 variant was carried on a novel ~ 300 kb multireplicon plasmid having IncFIA, IncR and IncHI1B. The plasmid was conjugative and carried a plethora of antimicrobial resistance determinants. The introduction of novel mcr variants in Lebanon poses an alarming health concern. Surveillance and screening for colistin resistant Enterobacteriaceae and mcr in livestock, animal farms, imported meat and poultry is highly recommended along with monitoring antibiotic use.

Keywords: Colistin; Hybrid assembly; IncFIA; IncHI1B; IncR; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Plasmid; mcr-8.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic representation of the genetic environments of various mcr-8 variants. mcr-8 is shown in red. Amino acid substitutions compared to mcr-8.1 are shown above each arrow. Hypothetical proteins (HP) are shown in grey and insertion sequences in yellow. Dotted vertical lines indicate the contig boundaries carrying mcr-8.1 in k9
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Circular graphical map of mcr-8.1 plasmid in k9. The multireplicon plasmid in k9 was compared to pF10AN_1, AR_0158 plasmid, pKP91, pKPN-065, pR50–74, pYDC676 and pKP91 plasmids. Circles indicate, from inside to outwards: GC skew; GC content; Blast hits to various plasmids used as references. Rep genes and mcr-8 locations are indicated on the figure. Inc. groups are shown in bold
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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