Escherichia coli strain:ST69 | isolate:APECA2 Raw sequence reads

The inevitable emergence of antimicrobial resistance in important human and animal pathogens has critically impacted modern medicine. Of those small number of agents that generally remain active against multidrug-resistant lineages of Gram-negative bacteria, the polymyxins (e.g. colistin) have until recently been considered agents of last resort. Thus, the emergence of the plasmid-mediated, enzymatic resistance determinant, MCR-1, first described in 2015 in a porcine isolate of Escherichia coli is a serious concern, globally. The mcr-1 gene encodes a phosphoethanolamine transferase, which decorates lipid A in E. coli with phosphoethanolamine. Since the enzyme was first described in China, it has now been detected on 5 continents and in multiple Enterobacteriaceae species. Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC) are responsible for a considerable proportion of the disease burden in commercial poultry flocks. APEC are the causative agents of colibacillosis, a major endemic disease. MRC-1 has recently been described in an E. coli ST131 isolate, recovered from a septic broiler in Germany, highlighting the zoonotic potential of some APEC strains. Here, we describe the characterization of a colistin-resistant APEC isolate, recovered in 2016 from a broiler carcass at a veterinary pathology centre in Germany.