Carriage and within-host diversity of mcr-1.1-harboring Escherichia coli from pregnant mothers: inter- and intra-mother transmission dynamics of mcr-1.1

Abstract Background- Inter- and intra-species exchange of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) primarily via mobile genetic elements take place in the gut. ARGs or antibiotic-resistant isolates can be transferred to neonate from the mother’s gut. This study evaluated carriage of mcr in pregnant mothers and their neonates along with deciphering transmission dynamics of mcr . Methods- Sample collected from pregnant mothers (rectal) and ill neonates (rectal & blood) were analyzed in terms of presence of mcr genes and its transmissibility, occurrence of plasmids and genome diversity of mcr- positive isolates, within an individual and across different individuals, to understand the exchange of mcr between isolates. Mother-to-baby transmission of mcr could not be assessed as babies of mcr -positive mothers were healthy…