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Identification of an extensively drug-resistant Escherichia coli clinical strain harboring mcr-1 and blaNDM-1 in Korea

The Journal of Antibiotics volume 73, pages 852–858 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The development of colistin resistance in carbapenem-resistant strains poses a serious public health problem. In this study, we collected 249 carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from patients in Seoul in 2018, and screened all isolates for colistin resistance and for the presence of mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes. Colistin-resistant strains were further analyzed using multilocus sequence typing, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, detection of antibiotic resistance determinants, plasmid transconjugation, and whole-genome sequencing. Three of the 249 carbapenem-resistant isolates were resistant to colistin, and mcr-1 was detected in one isolate (SECR18-0888), which belonged to sequence type 156 and was resistant to all antibiotics tested except tigecycline. The mcr-1.1 gene was located on an ~62 kb self-transferable IncI2 plasmid along with the blaCTX-M-55 gene, and the blaNDM-1, blaTEM, qepA1, and rmtB genes were additionally detected in SECR18-0888. As an extensively drug-resistant E. coli strain producing MCR-1 and NDM-1 was identified in Korea for the first time, continued monitoring of colistin resistance in carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae should be reinforced.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Diseases Team, Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

    Sunghee Han, Jin Seok Kim, Chae-Kyu Hong, Sang-Hun Park, Hee Soon Kim, Jin Kyung Yu, Sang-Me Lee & Young-Hee Oh

  2. Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Sunghee Han

  3. Division of Bacterial Diseases, Korea Centers for Diseases Control & Prevention, Chungcheongbuk-do, Republic of Korea

    Jungsun Park & Junyoung Kim

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  1. Sunghee Han
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Correspondence to Jin Seok Kim.

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Han, S., Kim, J.S., Hong, CK. et al. Identification of an extensively drug-resistant Escherichia coli clinical strain harboring mcr-1 and blaNDM-1 in Korea. J Antibiot 73, 852–858 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41429-020-0350-1

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