Whole Genome Sequencing Reveals Complex Evolution Patterns of Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing Strains in Patients
Authors
Merker, MKohl, T A
Roetzer, A
Truebe, L
Richter, E
Rüsch-Gerdes, S
Fattorini, L
Oggioni, M R
Cox, H
Varaine, F
Niemann, S
Affiliation
Molecular Mycobacteriology, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, GermanyIssue Date
2013-12
Metadata
Show full item recordJournal
PLoS OneAbstract
Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strains represent a major threat for tuberculosis (TB) control. Treatment of MDR-TB patients is long and less effective, resulting in a significant number of treatment failures. The development of further resistances leads to extensively drug-resistant (XDR) variants. However, data on the individual reasons for treatment failure, e.g. an induced mutational burst, and on the evolution of bacteria in the patient are only sparsely available. To address this question, we investigated the intra-patient evolution of serial MTBC isolates obtained from three MDR-TB patients undergoing longitudinal treatment, finally leading to XDR-TB. Sequential isolates displayed identical IS6110 fingerprint patterns, suggesting the absence of exogenous re-infection. We utilized whole genome sequencing (WGS) to screen for variations in three isolates from Patient A and four isolates from Patient B and C, respectively. Acquired polymorphisms were subsequently validated in up to 15 serial isolates by Sanger sequencing. We determined eight (Patient A) and nine (Patient B) polymorphisms, which occurred in a stepwise manner during the course of the therapy and were linked to resistance or a potential compensatory mechanism. For both patients, our analysis revealed the long-term co-existence of clonal subpopulations that displayed different drug resistance allele combinations. Out of these, the most resistant clone was fixed in the population. In contrast, baseline and follow-up isolates of Patient C were distinguished each by eleven unique polymorphisms, indicating an exogenous re-infection with an XDR strain not detected by IS6110 RFLP typing. Our study demonstrates that intra-patient microevolution of MDR-MTBC strains under longitudinal treatment is more complex than previously anticipated. However, a mutator phenotype was not detected. The presence of different subpopulations might confound phenotypic and molecular drug resistance tests. Furthermore, high resolution WGS analysis is necessary to accurately detect exogenous re-infection as classical genotyping lacks discriminatory power in high incidence settings.Publisher
Public Library of SciencePubMed ID
24324807Language
enISSN
1932-6203ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1371/journal.pone.0082551
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- The non-clonality of drug resistance in Beijing-genotype isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the Western Cape of South Africa.
- Authors: Ioerger TR, Feng Y, Chen X, Dobos KM, Victor TC, Streicher EM, Warren RM, Gey van Pittius NC, Van Helden PD, Sacchettini JC
- Issue date: 2010 Nov 26
- Genotyping and clinical characteristics of multidrug and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in a tertiary care tuberculosis hospital in China.
- Authors: Yuan X, Zhang T, Kawakami K, Zhu J, Zheng W, Li H, Deng G, Tu S, Liu W
- Issue date: 2013 Jul 12
- Diversified lineages and drug-resistance profiles of clinical isolates of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> complex in Malaysia.
- Authors: Noorizhab Fakhruzzaman MN, Abidin NZ, Aziz ZA, Lim WF, Richard JJ, Noorliza MN, Hani MH, Norhayati R, Zamzurina AB, Farida Zuraina MY, Hisyam MJ, Teh LK, Norazmi MN, Zaki MS
- Issue date: 2019 Oct-Dec
- Beijing genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is significantly associated with linezolid resistance in multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in China.
- Authors: Zhang Z, Pang Y, Wang Y, Liu C, Zhao Y
- Issue date: 2014 Mar
- Comparison of the socio-demographic and clinical features of pulmonary TB patients infected with sub-lineages within the W-Beijing and non-Beijing Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
- Authors: Hu Y, Mathema B, Zhao Q, Zheng X, Li D, Jiang W, Wang W, Xu B
- Issue date: 2016 Mar