Recombinant Escherichia coli Probable phosphatidylethanolamine transferase Mcr-1(mcr1),partial

Probably catalyzes the addition of a phosphoethanolamine moiety to lipid A. Phosphoethanolamine modification of lipid A gives polymyxin resistance (PubMed:26603172).1 Publication Confers resistance to polymyxin-type antibiotics; expression of the Mcr-2 prin in E.coli increases colistin and polymyxin B minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) from 0.5 mg/ml to 2.0 mg/ml. The pHNSHP45 plasmid can transfer efficiently (0.1 to 0.001) to other E.coli strains by conjugation and increases polymxin MIC by 8- to 16-fold; it may not require selective pressure to be maintained in the cell. When transformed into K.pneumoniae or P.aeruginosa it also increases polymxin MIC 8- to 16-fold. In a murine (BALB/c mice) thigh infection study using an mcr1-encoding plasmid isolated from a human patient, the plasmid confers in vivo protection against colistin (PubMed:26603172).