Journal Article
|ResearchMycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages
Stucki D, Brites D, Jeljeli L, Coscolla M, Liu Q, Trauner A, Fenner L, Rutaihwa L, Borrell S, Luo T, Gao Q, Kato-Maeda M, Ballif M, Egger M, Macedo R, Mardassi H, Moreno M, Vilanova GT, Fyfe J, Globan M, Thomas J, Jamieson F, Guthrie JL, Asante-Poku A, Yeboah-Manu D, Wampande E, Ssengooba W, Joloba M, Boom WH, Basu I, Bower J, Saraiva M, Vasconcellos SE, Suffys P, Koch A, Wilkinson RJ, Gail-Bekker L, Malla B, Ley SD, Beck HP, de Jong BC, Toit K, Sanchez-Padilla E, Bonnet MMB, Gil-Brusola A, Frank M, Penlap Beng VN, Eisenach K, Alani I, Ndungu PW, Revathi G, Gehre F, Akter S, Ntoumi F, Stewart-Isherwood L, Ntinginya NE, Rachow A, Hoelscher M, Cirillo DM, Skenders G, Hoffner S, Bakonyte D, Stakenas P, Diel R, Crudu V, Moldovan O, Al-Hajoj S, Otero L, Barletta F, Carter EJ, Diero L, Supply P, Comas I, Niemann S, Gagneux S
Abstract
Generalist and specialist species differ in the breadth of their ecological niches. Little is known about the niche width of obligate human pathogens. Here we analyzed a global collection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 clinical isolates, the most geographically widespread cause of human tuberculosis. We show that lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages, suggesting a distinction between generalists and specialists. Population genomic analyses showed that, whereas the majority of human T cell epitopes were conserved in all sublineages, the proportion of variable epitopes was higher in generalists. Our data further support a European origin for the most common generalist sublineage. Hence, the global success of lineage 4 reflects distinct strategies adopted by different sublineages and the influence of human migration.
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Languages
English
