Open AccessSingle Nucleotide Polymorphisms on the Road to Strain Differentiation in Mycobacterium ulcerans
Author(s) -
Michael Käser,
Julia Hauser,
Gerd Pluschke
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of clinical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.349
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1070-633X
pISSN - 0095-1137
DOI - 10.1128/jcm.00761-09
Subject(s) - mycobacterium ulcerans , buruli ulcer , biology , genotyping , single nucleotide polymorphism , genetics , typing , haplotype , population , lineage (genetic) , genotype , disease , medicine , gene , environmental health , pathology
The genomic fine-typing of strains ofMycobacterium ulcerans , the causative agent of the emerging human disease Buruli ulcer, is difficult due to the clonal population structure of geographical lineages. Although large sequence polymorphisms (LSPs) resulted in the clustering of patient isolates originating from across the globe, differentiation of strains within continents using conventional typing methods is very limited. In this study, we analyzedM. ulcerans LSP haplotype-specific insertion sequence elements among 83M. ulcerans strains and identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that differentiate between regional strains. This is the first genetic discrimination based on SNPs ofM. ulcerans strains from African countries where Buruli ulcer is endemic, resulting in the highest geographic resolution of genotyping so far. The findings support the concept of genome-wide SNP analyses as tools to study the epidemiology and evolution ofM. ulcerans at a local level.