<P> The mobilized colistin resistance (mcr - 1) gene confers plasmid - mediated resistance to colistin, one of a number of last - resort antibiotics for treating gram negative infections . mcr - 1 is capable of horizontal transfer between different strains of a bacterial species and after discovery in November 2015 in E. coli (strain SHP45) from a pig in China it has been found in Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Enterobacter cloacae . As of 2017, it has been detected in more than 30 countries on 5 continents in less than a year . </P> <P> The "mobilized colistin resistance" (mcr - 1) gene confers plasmid - mediated resistance to colistin, a polymyxin and one of a number of last - resort antibiotics for treating infections . </P>

Dissemination and mechanism for the mcr-1 colistin resistance