title: Analysis of the Molecular Evolution of the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Drug-Resistant Gene rpoB in Asia Using a Bayesian Evolutionary Method.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious communicable disease throughout the world. Re-emergence of the TB epidemic is aggravated by the circulation of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, and more than half of new cases have occurred in Asia. Therefore, it is important to understand the gene mutations underlying the development of rifampicin resistance in Asia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we classified the rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) rpoB data downloaded from Genbank, based on 12 mutation points. The relationship between the mutation sites and regional information was analyzed, after which the mutation dates and mutation trends of the rpoB gene were predicted by the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We discovered that the mutation sites of the rpoB gene were disparate in different regions of Asia. The results of this study clearly showed that drug-resistant gene mutations in Asia started to increase in 2000 and peaked in 2006, indicating the relationship between drug resistance and outbreak trends of TB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From our analysis, it was not difficult to see the relationship between the mutation rates of the rpoB gene and the outbreak of TB. Hence, to some degree, outbreak trends of TB can be predicted through genotyping based on the rpoB gene.
authors.forename: Guangyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jianmeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yuqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Guangxin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Peige
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000904:Antibiotics, Antitubercular / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001208:Asia; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008390:Markov Chains; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009154:Mutation; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012293:Rifampin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000904:Antibiotics, Antitubercular; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C505805:rpoB protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; D012293:Rifampin