title: Mycobacterium africanum genotyping using novel spacer oligonucleotides in the direct repeat locus.
abstract: This study involves a first evaluation of 25 novel spacer oligonucleotides in addition to the 43 routine spacers for molecular characterization of a panel of 65 isolates of tubercle bacilli from different geographic origins that were initially classified as Mycobacterium africanum based on phenotypic characters. The 68-spacer format defined four additional patterns, and three groups were identified. The relatively homogeneous groups A1 and A2 included strains from West Africa, and A3-1 included strains from East Africa. The presence of deletion region RD9 confirmed the reclassification of the M. africanum subtype II spoligopattern within group A3-1 as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These isolates may represent a diverging branch of M. tuberculosis in Africa. The use of new spacers also suggested an undergoing evolution of M. africanum subtype I in West Africa. Our results showed that the strain differentiation within the M. tuberculosis complex is improved by using novel spacers, and extensive studies using new-generation spoligotyping may be helpful to better understand the evolution of M. africanum.
authors.affiliation: Unité de la Tuberculose et des Mycobactéries, Institut Pasteur de Guadeloupe, Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brudey
authors.forename: M Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salfinger
authors.forename: Nalin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rastogi
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sola
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000032:analysis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides