Evolution of short sequence repeats in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Whole genome comparison has revealed the presence of short sequence repeats (also called mycobacterial interspersed repeat units and variable number tandem repeat units) used for genotyping schemes. In this study, we have used deletion analysis, single nucleotide polymorphism data and spoligotype taken from published data from others to investigate the evolution of selected repeats that form the common denominators of the majority of established schemes. Analysis of the number of repeats per locus from over 400 isolates revealed that the general trend globally appears to be loss of repeats in modern strains compared with ancestral strains.
Arnold
Cath
C
Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency, London, UK. catherine.arnold@hpa.org.uk
Thorne
Nicola
N
Underwood
Anthony
A
Baster
Kathleen
K
Gharbia
Saheer
S
D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005838:Genotype; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017384:Sequence Deletion
D004269:DNA, Bacterial