title: Chitin promotes Mycobacterium ulcerans growth.
abstract: Mycobacterium ulcerans(MU) is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, an emerging human infectious disease. However, both the ecology and life cycle of MU are poorly understood. The occurrence of MU has been linked to the aquatic environment, notably water bodies affected by human activities. It has been hypothesized that one or a combination of environmental factor(s) connected to human activities could favour growth of MU in aquatic systems. Here, we testedin vitrothe growth effect of two ubiquitous polysaccharides and five chemical components on MU at concentration ranges shown to occur in endemic regions. Real-time PCR showed that chitin increased MU growth significantly providing a nutrient source or environmental support for thebacillus, thereby, providing a focus on the association between MU and aquatic arthropods. Aquatic environments with elevated population of arthropods provide increased chitin availability and, thereby, enhanced multiplication of MU. If calcium very slightly enhanced MU growth, iron, zinc, sulphate and phosphate did not stimulate MU growth, and at the concentration ranges of this study would limit MU population in natural ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: UMR MIVEGEC IRD-CNRS-Université de Montpellier, Centre IRD de Montpellier, B.P. 64501, 34000 Montpellier, France Equipe Inserm Avenir ATOMycA, CRCNA INSERM U892 and CNRS U6299, Université et CHU d'Angers, 49933 Angers, France sanhueza.daniel@outlook.com.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sanhueza
authors.affiliation: UMR MIVEGEC IRD-CNRS-Université de Montpellier, Centre IRD de Montpellier, B.P. 64501, 34000 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chevillon
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, Institute for Advanced Computational Systems (UMIACS), College Park, MD 20742, USA and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colwell
authors.affiliation: Equipe Inserm Avenir ATOMycA, CRCNA INSERM U892 and CNRS U6299, Université et CHU d'Angers, 49933 Angers, France.
authors.forename: Jérémie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Babonneau
authors.affiliation: Equipe Inserm Avenir ATOMycA, CRCNA INSERM U892 and CNRS U6299, Université et CHU d'Angers, 49933 Angers, France.
authors.forename: Estelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marion
authors.affiliation: Equipe Inserm Avenir ATOMycA, CRCNA INSERM U892 and CNRS U6299, Université et CHU d'Angers, 49933 Angers, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marsollier
authors.affiliation: UMR MIVEGEC IRD-CNRS-Université de Montpellier, Centre IRD de Montpellier, B.P. 64501, 34000 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Guégan
mesh_terms: D054312:Buruli Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology; D002118:Calcium; D002686:Chitin / Q000378:metabolism*; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D019911:Mycobacterium ulcerans / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010710:Phosphates; D002686:Chitin; D007501:Iron; D015032:Zinc; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Mycobacterium ulcerans; chitin; environmental mycobacteria; infectious disease; nutrient source