Application of sensitive and specific molecular methods to uncover global dissemination of the major RDRio sublineage of the Latin american-mediterranean Mycobacterium tuberculosis spoligotype family

Andrea L. Gibson (1) , Richard C. Huard (1, 2) , Nicolaas C. Gey Van Pittius (3) , Luiz Claudio Oliveira Lazzarini (4, 1) , Jeffrey Driscoll (5) , Natalia Kurepina (6) , Thierry Zozio (7) , Christophe Sola (8, 7) , Silvana Miranda Spindola (9) , Afranio L. Kritski (4) , Daniel Fitzgerald (10, 1) , Kristin Kremer (11) , Helmi Mardassi (12) , Poonam Chitale (1) , Jessica Brinkworth (1, 13) , Dario Garcia De Viedma (14, 15) , Brigitte Gicquel (8, 11) , Jean W. Pape (10) , Dick Van Soolingem (11) , Barry N. Kreiswirth (16, 6) , Robin M. Warren (3) , Paul D. Van Helden (3) , Nalin Rastogi (7) , Philip N. Suffys (17) , Jose Lapa E Silva (4) , John L. Ho (1)

1 Weill Medical College of Cornell University [New York]
2 Columbia University Medical Center [New York]
3 DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials (Johannesburg, South Africa )
4 Institute of Thoracic Disease [Rio de Janeiro]
5 Wadsworth Center
6 PHRI - Public Health Research Institute [Newark]
7 Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe
8 Génétique mycobactérienne - Mycobacterial genetics
9 UFMG - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais = Federal University of Minas Gerais [Belo Horizonte, Brazil]
10 GHESKIO Centers [Port-au-Prince]
11 RIVM - National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [Bilthoven]
12 Institut Pasteur de Tunis
13 NYCEP - New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology
14 CIBERES - Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Respiratorias
15 Servicio de Microbiología Clínica y Enfermedades Infecciosas
16 Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
17 FIOCRUZ - Fundação Oswaldo Cruz / Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

The Latin American-Mediterranean (LAM) family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is believed to be the cause of similar to 15% of tuberculosis cases worldwide. Previously, we defined a prevalent sublineage of the LAM family in Brazil by a single characteristic genomic deletion designated RDRio. Using the Brazilian strains, we pinpoint an Ag85C(103) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (screened by restriction fragment length polymorphism [RFLP] analysis) that correctly identified all LAM family strains. Importantly, all RDRio strains concomitantly possessed the RD174 deletion. These genetic signatures, along with a newly developed multiplex PCR for rapid differentiation between ``wild-type'' and RDRio strains, were then used to analyze an international collection of M. tuberculosis strains. RDRio M. tuberculosis was identified from four continents involving 11 countries. Phylogenetic analysis of the IS6110-RFLP patterns from representative RDRio and LAM strains from Brazil, along with all representative clusters from a South African database, confirmed their genetic relatedness and transcontinental transmission. The Ag85C(103) SNP RFLP, as compared to results obtained using a PCR method targeting a LAM-restricted IS6110 element, correctly identified 99.8% of LAM spoligotype strains. Together, these tests were more accurate than spoligotyping at categorizing strains with indefinable spoligotypes and segregated true LAM strains from those with convergent spoligotypes. The fact that RDRio strains were identified worldwide highlights the importance of this LAM family sublineage and suggests that this strain is a global threat that should be specifically targeted by public health resources. Our provision of simple and robust molecular methods will assist the evaluation of the LAM family and the RDRio sublineage.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Bactériologie

Andrea L. Gibson, Richard C. Huard, Nicolaas C. Gey Van Pittius, Luiz Claudio Oliveira Lazzarini, Jeffrey Driscoll, et al.. Application of sensitive and specific molecular methods to uncover global dissemination of the major RDRio sublineage of the Latin american-mediterranean Mycobacterium tuberculosis spoligotype family. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2008, 46 (4), pp.1259-1267. ⟨10.1128/JCM.02231-07⟩. ⟨pasteur-01375200⟩