Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (2): 504-519.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2023.02.009

• REVIEW • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Mobile Colistin Resistance Gene (mcr): a Severe Challenge to the “Last-line Defense” of Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections

HU Jun, DING Shuaishuai, WEI Shuyong*   

  1. Animal Medicine College, Immunology Research Center of Medical Research Insitute, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China
  • Received:2022-06-23 Online:2023-02-23 Published:2023-02-21

Abstract: Mobile colistin resistance (mcr) gene was first reported by Chinese scholars in 2016. Subsequently, 43 mutants of 10 mcrs were detected in more than 50 countries and 20 host bacteria worldwide. The coding protein MCRs have two conserved domains and similar predictive protein structure, and the amino acid sequence homology is about 32%-82.93%. It was found that mcr can spread widely with host bacteria in animals, humans and the environment, seriously reducing the therapeutic efficacy and use value of colistin, the "last line of defense" to control multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections in veterinary clinics. The global transmission of mcr may be based on its complex genetic background. A total of 14 positive plasmid-species have been identified so far, further more, the horizontal transfer of mcr is also related to many mobile genetic elements such as insertion sequence ISApl1. The horizontal dissemination of mcr among different bacteria and species is posing a global threat to the public health safety, and how to control the spread of mcr needs further attention.

Key words: mcr, prevalence status, homology, molecular characteristic, genetic background

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