title: Spatiotemporal Co-existence of Two Mycobacterium ulcerans Clonal Complexes in the Offin River Valley of Ghana.
abstract: In recent years, comparative genome sequence analysis of African Mycobacterium ulcerans strains isolated from Buruli ulcer (BU) lesion specimen has revealed a very limited genetic diversity of closely related isolates and a striking association between genotype and geographical origin of the patients. Here, we compared whole genome sequences of five M. ulcerans strains isolated in 2004 or 2013 from BU lesions of four residents of the Offin river valley with 48 strains isolated between 2002 and 2005 from BU lesions of individuals residing in the Densu river valley of Ghana. While all M. ulcerans isolates from the Densu river valley belonged to the same clonal complex, members of two distinct clonal complexes were found in the Offin river valley over space and time. The Offin strains were closely related to genotypes from either the Densu region or from the Asante Akim North district of Ghana. These results point towards an occasional involvement of a mobile reservoir in the transmission of M. ulcerans, enabling the spread of bacteria across different regions.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.|Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecologia, A.C., Veracruz, México.
authors.forename: Araceli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lamelas
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.|Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Kobina Assan
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ampah
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aboagye
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kerber
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Emelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Danso
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Adwoa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asante-Poku
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Prince
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Asare
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parkhill
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Simon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pluschke
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yeboah-Manu
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Röltgen
mesh_terms: D054312:Buruli Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D005869:Ghana; D006801:Humans; D019911:Mycobacterium ulcerans / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D045483:Rivers / Q000382:microbiology*