Consensus numbering system for the rifampicin resistance-associated rpoB gene mutations in pathogenic mycobacteria.
The rpoB gene codes for the RNA polymerase β subunit, which is the target of rifampicin, an essential drug in the treatment of tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections. This gene is present in all bacteria, but its length and nucleotide sequence vary between bacterial species, including mycobacteria. Mutations in the rpoB gene alter the structure of this protein and cause drug resistance. To describe the resistance-associated mutations, the scientific and medical communities have been using, since 1993, a numbering system based on the Escherichia coli sequence annotation. Using E. coli reference for describing mutations in mycobacteria leads to misunderstandings, particularly with the increasing use of whole genome sequencing, which brought an alternative numbering system based on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis rpoB sequence. We propose using a consensus numbering system for the reporting of resistance mutations based on the reference genomes from the species interrogated (such as strain H37Rv for M. tuberculosis). This manuscript provides the necessary figures and tables allowing researchers, microbiologists and clinicians to easily convert other annotation systems into one common language.
Pôle de Microbiologie Médicale, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; Microbiology Unit, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium; European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC), ESCMID, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: emmanuel.andre@uclouvain.be.
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Andre
Pôle de Microbiologie Médicale, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
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Goeminne
Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, Tuberculosis Supranational Reference Laboratory (SRL), IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.
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Cabibbe
Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology Group, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, Germany; German Center for Infection Research, Borstel Site, Borstel, Germany.
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Beckert
Pôle de Microbiologie Médicale, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; Microbiology Unit, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
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Kabamba Mukadi
National Reference Laboratory for Tuberculosis and Mycobacterial Diseases, Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), Brussels, Belgium.
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Mathys
Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
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Gagneux
German Center for Infection Research, Borstel Site, Borstel, Germany; Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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Niemann
Microbiology Unit, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium; APHP, Hôpital Lariboisière, Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Reference Center for Mycobacteria and Antimycobacterial Resistance, Paris, France.
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Van Ingen
European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC), ESCMID, Basel, Switzerland; APHP, Hôpital Lariboisière, Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Reference Center for Mycobacteria and Antimycobacterial Resistance, Paris, France; University Paris Diderot, INSERM IAME UMR1137, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
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Cambau
D000904:Antibiotics, Antitubercular / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D032921:Consensus; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000592:standards*; D050505:Mutant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000187:drug effects; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D012293:Rifampin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic
D000904:Antibiotics, Antitubercular; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D050505:Mutant Proteins; C540081:rpoB protein, E coli; C505805:rpoB protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; D012293:Rifampin
Mycobacterium kansasii; Mycobacterium leprae; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Numbering system; Resistance; Rifampicin; Rifampin; rpoB