Emergence of mcr-9.1 in Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Clinical Enterobacteriaceae in Pretoria, South Africa: Global Evolutionary Phylogenomics, Resistome, and Mobilome
Open accessAbstract
Colistin is currently the last-resort antibiotic for difficult-to-treat bacterial infections. However, colistin resistance genes that can move from bacteria to bacteria have emerged, threatening the safe treatment of many bacterial infections. One of these genes, mcr-9.1 , has emerged in South Africa in bacteria that are multidrug resistant, further limiting treatment options for clinicians. In this work, we show that this new gene is disseminating worldwide through Enterobacter and Salmonella species through multiple plasmids. This worrying observation requires urgent action to prevent further escalation of this gene in South Africa and Africa.
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The finding of mcr-9.1 aligns with previous retrospective studies that identified mcr-9 prior to its first official report, highlighting the value of metagenomics in antimicrobial resistance surveillance.
“Our finding aligns with previous retrospective studies43,44 that identified mcr-9 prior to its first official report, highlighting the value of metagenomics in AMR surveillance.”
From Impact of early life antibiotic and probiotic treatment on gut microbiome and resistome of very-low-birth-weight preterm infants. (2025) · cites this paper as [44]
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“Our fi nding aligns with previous retrospective studies 43,44 thatidenti fi ed mcr-9 prior to its fi rstof fi cial report, highlighting the value of metagenomics in AMR surveillance.”
- Authors
- Osei Sekyere, J., Maningi, N. E., Modipane, L., & Mbelle, N. M.
- Affiliations
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- University of Pretoria (ZA)
- Venue
- mSystems
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 2020-06-30
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- ISSN
- 2379-5077 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7253365
- OpenAlex
- W3026198540
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 7
- FWCI
- 2.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- mSystems (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology
- Keywords
- colistin resistance, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase, Enterobacteriaceae, Enterobacter, Salmonella, multidrug resistance, plasmids, resistome, mobilome, phylogenomics, gene dissemination, South Africa
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