Prevention of Klebsiella pneumoniae antibiotic resistance plasmid dissemination by prophylactic or simultaneous CRISPR-Cas9 treatment.

Mobile CRISPR-Cas9 completely prevented transfer of a clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae blaCTX-M-15 AMR plasmid into plasmid-free Escherichia coli recipients in a three-strain community.

• Why it matters: AMR plasmids spread within and across species, and mobile CRISPR-Cas9 can lose efficacy under more realistic ecological conditions.
• What they did: A three-strain community was used to test a mobile CRISPR-Cas9 plasmid in an Escherichia coli donor against dissemination of a clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae blaCTX-M-15 plasmid.
• The result: Under conditions favoring CRISPR-Cas9 plasmid transfer, AMR plasmid uptake was blocked whether CRISPR-Cas9 was applied prophylactically or simultaneously with the AMR plasmid.

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