title: Whole genome sequence analysis of Mycobacterium suricattae.
abstract: Tuberculosis occurs in various mammalian hosts and is caused by a range of different lineages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). A recently described member, Mycobacterium suricattae, causes tuberculosis in meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in Southern Africa and preliminary genetic analysis showed this organism to be closely related to an MTBC pathogen of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), the dassie bacillus. Here we make use of whole genome sequencing to describe the evolution of the genome of M. suricattae, including known and novel regions of difference, SNPs and IS6110 insertion sites. We used genome-wide phylogenetic analysis to show that M. suricattae clusters with the chimpanzee bacillus, previously isolated from a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in West Africa. We propose an evolutionary scenario for the Mycobacterium africanum lineage 6 complex, showing the evolutionary relationship of M. africanum and chimpanzee bacillus, and the closely related members M. suricattae, dassie bacillus and Mycobacterium mungi.
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: adippenaar@sun.acza.
authors.forename: Anzaan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dippenaar
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: sparsons@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Sven David Charles
authors.initials: SDC
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: ssampson@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Samantha Leigh
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Sampson
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: rvdm@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Ruben Gerhard
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: van der Merwe
authors.affiliation: Royal Veterinary College, London, UK. Electronic address: jdrewe@rvc.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Julian Ashley
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Drewe
authors.affiliation: Pathogen Genomics Laboratory, BESE Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: abdallah.abdallah@kaust.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Abdallah Musa
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abdallah
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: kksiame@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Kabengele Keith
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Siame
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: ngvp@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Nicolaas Claudius
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Gey van Pittius
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: pvh@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Paul David
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: van Helden
authors.affiliation: Pathogen Genomics Laboratory, BESE Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: arnab.pain@kaust.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Arnab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pain
authors.affiliation: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: rw1@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Robin Mark
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Warren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008988:Herpestidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: High-throughput nucleotide sequencing; Meerkat; Mycobacterium suricattae; Tuberculosis