Open AccessImpact of drug resistance on fitness of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains of the W‐Beijing genotype
Author(s) -
Toungoussova Olga S.,
Caugant Dominique A.,
Sandven Per,
Mariandyshev Andrey O.,
Bjune Gunnar
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
fems immunology & medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1574-695X
pISSN - 0928-8244
DOI - 10.1016/j.femsim.2004.05.012
Subject(s) - genotype , mycobacterium tuberculosis , biology , drug resistance , tuberculosis , beijing , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , gene , genetics , medicine , pathology , china , law , political science
Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains of the W‐Beijing genotype became a common cause of tuberculosis during the past years and they are often associated with drug resistance. The biological factors facilitating the selection and wide dissemination of these strains are not known. To determine how acquisition of drug resistance affected growth of strains of the W‐Beijing genotype, the growth of 55 M. tuberculosis isolates were studied using the BBL MGIT Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube and the BACTEC MGIT 960 System. Susceptible strains of non‐Beijing genotypes were found to be the most fit strains. Drug‐resistant strains of non‐Beijing genotypes were more likely to grow slower than susceptible strains ( P =0.001 ). Drug‐resistant strains of the W‐Beijing genotype had two tendencies of growth: some of them showed reduced growth compared to susceptible strains, while others did not show loss of fitness measured as growth.