Recombination in pe/ppe genes contributes to genetic variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Approximately 10% of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome is made up of two families of genes that are poorly characterized due to their high GC content and highly repetitive nature. The PE and PPE families are typified by their highly conserved N-terminal domains that incorporate proline-glutamate (PE) and proline-proline-glutamate (PPE) signature motifs. They are hypothesised to be important virulence factors involved with host-pathogen interactions, but their high genetic variability and complexity of analysis means they are typically disregarded in genome studies.

Results

To elucidate the structure of these genes, 518 genomes from a diverse international collection of clinical isolates were de novo assembled. A further 21 reference M. tuberculosis complex gen

SUBMITTER: Phelan JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4770551 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature