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Volume 12, Issue 4

Genomic characterization of mobile genetic elements associated with antimicrobial resistance in from Australia Open Access

Abstract

The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in threatens current antibiotic treatment strategies. While -lactams remain the first-line therapy for pneumococcal infections in Australia, resistance to macrolides, tetracyclines and other antibiotics, driven by resistance genes carried on mobile genetic elements (MGEs), is increasingly reported. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of 573 . genomes from South Australia, Queensland and Victoria to investigate the distribution of MGEs and their association with acquired AMR genes. Resistance genes and MGEs were identified using AMRFinderPlus and MobileElementFinder. Serotypes, sequence types and global pneumococcal sequence clusters (GPSCs) were assigned using SeroBA, MLST and the GPS pipeline. Out of the 573 genomes, 547 passed quality checks. Tn-like (Tn, Tn, Tn, Tn and ICETw19F14) and Tn-like (Tn, ICE529IQ) integrative conjugative elements carried various combinations of B, A, D, M, A and A16 genes, supporting horizontal gene transfer as a key mechanism of resistance spread. Macrolide and tetracycline resistance genes co-occurred in 192/239 (80.7%) MGE-positive genomes. The most common MGE-positive serotypes were 33F/ST717/GPSC3 (15.6%, =30), serotype 4/ST2759/GPSC162 (15.1%, =29), serotype 15A/ST63/GPSC9 (7.3%, =14), serotype 23A/ST338/GPSC5 (5.7%, =11), serotype 15A/ST8625/GPSC9 (3.6%, =7) and serotype 19A/ST3111/GPSC932 (3.6%, =7). Our results reflect global trends of MGE-associated resistance in expanding non-vaccine serotypes (such as 15A and 23A) and multidrug-resistant clones. These findings underscore the evolutionary role of MGEs associated with AMR in shaping the pneumococcal resistome and highlight the continuous need for genomic surveillance to inform antibiotic stewardship and vaccine strategies in Australia.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
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Keyword(s): antimicrobial resistance , integrative conjugative elements , mobile genetic elements , multidrug resistance and Streptococcus pneumoniae
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • The University of Adelaide Research Scholarship (Award UARS)
    • Principal Award Recipient: GabrielTemitope Sunmonu
© 2026 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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Genomic characterization of mobile genetic elements associated with antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae from Australia
M Gen 12, 001662 (2026); https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001662
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001662
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001662
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