A deletion hampering appropriate typing of Mycobacterium africanum

Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2017 Mar:103:24-27. doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2016.12.006. Epub 2016 Dec 26.

Abstract

Molecular epidemiology analysis of tuberculosis transmission is based mostly on the application of MIRU-VNTR. In certain isolates a complete 24-loci genotype is not obtained and these incompletely genotyped isolates can not be used in the definition of clusters. In a population-based molecular epidemiology study performed in Almería, Southeast Spain, a context with a high proportion of immigrants, we found that an 88-bp deletion in isolates of Mycobacterium africanum Lineage 5 hampers MIRU-VNTR analysis. A more extensive analysis revealed that this deletion was shared by all the Lineage 5 isolates in certain countries of origin of immigrants, such as Equatorial Guinea, and is likely present in several other African countries and also in the USA. A procedure is proposed to enable epidemiological analysis of these isolates.

Keywords: DNA deletion; Genotyping; MIRU-VNTR; Mycobacterium africanum.

MeSH terms

  • Africa / ethnology
  • Bacterial Typing Techniques*
  • Black People
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Emigrants and Immigrants
  • Emigration and Immigration
  • Gene Deletion*
  • Genetic Loci
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Interspersed Repetitive Sequences
  • Minisatellite Repeats
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques*
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / classification
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Spain / epidemiology
  • Tuberculosis / diagnosis
  • Tuberculosis / ethnology
  • Tuberculosis / microbiology*
  • Tuberculosis / transmission

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial