The E. coli mcr-3 sequence is similar to sequences found in Enterobacteriaceae and Aeromonas, which are commonly found in the environment. Due to the potential transfer of mcr-3 between these bacterial species, the prevalence of mcr-3 may be largely underestimated. Because colistin is widely used in veterinary medicine, and is being used with increasing frequency in human medicine, it is essential to continually monitor the mobile colistin resistance determinants in order to tackle the dissemination of mcr genes in the agricultural and healthcare sectors. The study is published in mBio, an open access journal of the American Society for Microbiology on June 27, 2017.
Article source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170627114820.htm