Genetic diversity of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> clinical isolates in Blantyre, Malawi



Ndhlovu, Victor, Kiran, Anmol ORCID: 0000-0003-2680-2303, Sloan, Derek, Mandala, Wilson, Kontogianni, Konstantina, Kamdolozi, Mercy, Caws, Maxine and Davies, Gerry ORCID: 0000-0002-3819-490X
(2019) Genetic diversity of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> clinical isolates in Blantyre, Malawi. HELIYON, 5 (10). e02638-.

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Abstract

Despite the high burden of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, specific factors influencing disease transmission remain elusive. Long term epidemiological studies and in vitro experimental models provide evidence of variable relative fitness of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)</i> strains but few such studies are available. Large sequence polymorphisms (LSP) are a robust molecular marker and are feasible as an epidemiological investigative tool. Few <i>Mtb</i> molecular epidemiological studies have been reported in Malawi owing to lack of laboratories with molecular tools. We characterized the genetic diversity of <i>Mtb</i> clinical isolates amongst TB patients in Blantyre, Malawi. We genotyped 64 Mtb clinical isolates using LSP-PCR, assigned specific lineages and confirmed 18 of the isolates using SMRT sequencing. The 64 isolates clustered into 4 lineages (L1-L4) with L4 predominating. There were 10/64 (16%) isolates belonging to L1, 6/64 (9%) belonging to L2, 2/64 (3%) belonging to L3 and 46/64 (72%) belonging to L4. Comparison with a previous study done in Karonga revealed concordance in L1 and L4 but discodance in L2 and L3. The phylogenetic tree constructed, comprised of 3/4 lineages present in Blantyre with 3/18 belonging to L1, 3/18 belonging to L2 and 12/18 belonging to L4. Four <i>Mtb</i> lineages were present in Blantyre with L4 predominating. Larger studies are needed to understand the molecular epidemiology of TB in Blantyre in light of increased bi-directional migration with South Africa.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Clinical genetics, Genetics, Bioinformatics, Infectious disease, Microbiology, Single molecule real time sequencing, Region of difference, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Single nucleotide polymorphism, Large sequence polymorphisms
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 06 Feb 2020 10:40
Last Modified: 06 Oct 2023 09:07
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02638
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02638
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URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3073765