Elucidation of molecular mechanism for colistin resistance among Gram-negative isolates from tertiary care hospitals

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing concern of global public health. The emergence of colistin-resistance among carbapenem-resistant (CPR) Gram-negative bacteria causing fear of pan-resistance, treatment failure, and high mortality across the globe.

Aim: To determine the genotypic colistin-resistance mechanisms among colistin-resistant (CR)Gram-negative clinical isolates along with genomic insight into hypermucoviscous(hv)-CR-Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Methods: Phenotypic colistin-resistance via broth-microdilution method. PCR-based detection of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance genes(mcr-1,2,3). Characterization of selected hvCR-K. pneumoniae via Whole-genome sequencing.

Results: Phenotypic colistin-resistance was 28% among CPR-Gram-negative isolates of which 90% of CR-isolates displayed MDR profile with overall low plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (mcr-2 = 9.4%;mcr-3 = 6%). Although K. pneumoniae isolates showed the highest phenotypic colistin-resistance (51%) however, relatively low plasmid-mediated gene-carriage (mcr-2 = 11.5%;mcr-3 = 3.4%) pointed toward other mechanisms of colistin-resistance. mcr-negative CR-K. pneumoniae displaying hv-phenotype were subjected to WGS. In-silico analysis detected 7-novel mutations in lipid-A modification genes includes eptA(I38V; V50L; A135P), opgE(M53L; T486A; G236S), and arnD(S164P) in addition to several non-synonymous mutations in lipid-A modification genes conferring resistance to colistin. Insertion of 6.6-kb region harboring putative-PEA-encoding gene(yjgX) was detected for the first time in K. pneumoniae (hvCRKP4771). In-silico analysis further confirmed the acquisition of not only MDR determinants but several hypervirulent-determinants displaying a convergent phenotype.

Conclusion: overall high prevalence of phenotypic colistin resistance but low mcr-gene carriage suggested complex chromosomal mediated resistance mechanism especially in K. pneumoniae isolates. The presence of novel mutations in lipid-A modification genes and the acquisition of putative-PEA-encoding gene by hvCR-K. pneumoniae points toward the role of chromosomal determinants conferring resistance to colistin in the absence of mcr-genes.