Plasmid-Mediated Colistin Resistance Gene mcr-1 in an Escherichia coli ST10 Bloodstream Isolate in the Sultanate of Oman.

AIMS: To identify plasmid-mediated colistin resistance in clinical Enterobacteriaceae isolates in Oman, where this resistance mechanism has not been encountered yet.

MATERIALS/

METHODS

Twenty-two colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae clinical isolates collected between July 2014 and June 2016 in a tertiary care hospital in Muscat were screened by PCR for the mcr-1 and mcr-2 genes. The strain identified as mcr-1 positive was genotyped and its antibiotic susceptibility was established. The mcr-1 containing plasmid was mobilized into Escherichia coli K-12 and its sequence was determined.

RESULTS

A single E. coli isolate (OM97) carrying mcr-1 gene was identified, while no strains carrying the mcr-2 gene was found. E. coli OM97 was isolated in June 2016 from blood culture of a male patient with multiple comorbidities. It belonged to ST10. Beyond colistin, it was resistant to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, piperacillin-tazobactam, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, and cotrimoxazole. The mcr-1 gene was located on a conjugative IncI2-type plasmid of 63722 bp size, which did not harbor any further resistance genes. The genetic surrounding of the mcr-1 gene lacked the ISApl1 element.

CONCLUSIONS

Although colistin resistance caused by the mcr-1 gene is not common in our collection of clinical isolates, the occurrence of the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance in an E. coli ST10 strain is of concern as this clonal group was already shown to spread ESBL genes and quinolone resistance worldwide. It is especially worrisome that as the mcr-1 gene occurred in a non-ESBL, carbapenem-susceptible E. coli strain, current susceptibility testing algorithms may not detect its presence.