Investigation of the population structure of Mycobacterium abscessus complex strains using a 17-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) and the further distinction of Mycobacterium massiliense hsp65 genotypes.

Investigation of the population structure of Mycobacterium abscessus complex strains using a 17-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) and the further distinction of Mycobacterium massiliense hsp65 genotypes. J Med Microbiol. 2015 Jan 16; Authors: Yoshida S, Arikawa K, Tsuyuguchi K, Kurashima A, Harada T, Nagai H, Suzuki K, Iwamoto T, Hayashi S Abstract Mycobacterium abscessus complex has prevailed as a significant pathogen in patients with non-cystic fibrosis (CF). Nevertheless, there is little description of genetic diversity of this species. The aims of this study were to investigate the distribution of M. abscessus complex isolated from respiratory specimens by a variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR). The results of 104 clinical isolates from 104 non-CF patients were compared between pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), hsp65 genotypes and clarithromycin susceptibility. The allelic diversity (the Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index) of the 17 examined loci of VNTR was high score as 0.977. We determined that C28 sequevar in erm(41) genotypes and clarithromycin acquired-resistance isolates were scattered in the minimum spanning tree (MST). Intriguingly, VNTR and PFGE were highly congruent and revealed that there were clear examples of grouping of isolates from different individuals among both M. abscessus and M. massiliense, and showed five clusters of distinct-identical isolates. Within these clusters, M. massiliense hsp65 t...
Source: Journal of Medical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: J Med Microbiol Source Type: research