The global distribution and spread of the mobilized colistin resistance gene mcr-1

Ruobing Wang, Lucy Dorp, Liam P. Shaw, Phelim Bradley, Qi Wang, Xiaojuan Wang, Longyang Jin, Qing Zhang, Yuqing Liu, Adrien Rieux, Thamarai Dorai-Schneiders, Lucy Anne Weinert, Zamin Iqbal, Xavier Didelot, Hui Wang () and Francois Balloux ()
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Ruobing Wang: Peking University People’s Hospital
Lucy Dorp: University College London
Liam P. Shaw: University College London
Phelim Bradley: University of Oxford
Qi Wang: Peking University People’s Hospital
Xiaojuan Wang: Peking University People’s Hospital
Longyang Jin: Peking University People’s Hospital
Qing Zhang: Shandong Province
Yuqing Liu: Shandong Province
Adrien Rieux: UMR PVBMT, CIRAD
Thamarai Dorai-Schneiders: 49 Little France Crescent
Lucy Anne Weinert: Department of Veterinary Medicine
Zamin Iqbal: University of Oxford
Xavier Didelot: Imperial College London
Hui Wang: Peking University People’s Hospital
Francois Balloux: University College London

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Colistin represents one of the few available drugs for treating infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. As such, the recent plasmid-mediated spread of the colistin resistance gene mcr-1 poses a significant public health threat, requiring global monitoring and surveillance. Here, we characterize the global distribution of mcr-1 using a data set of 457 mcr-1-positive sequenced isolates. We find mcr-1 in various plasmid types but identify an immediate background common to all mcr-1 sequences. Our analyses establish that all mcr-1 elements in circulation descend from the same initial mobilization of mcr-1 by an ISApl1 transposon in the mid 2000s (2002–2008; 95% highest posterior density), followed by a marked demographic expansion, which led to its current global distribution. Our results provide the first systematic phylogenetic analysis of the origin and spread of mcr-1, and emphasize the importance of understanding the movement of antibiotic resistance genes across multiple levels of genomic organization.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03205-z

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