Extensive Homoplasy but No Evidence of Convergent Evolution of Repeat Numbers at MIRU Loci in Modern Mycobacterium tuberculosis Lineages.

ABSTRACT: More human deaths have been attributable to Mycobacterium tuberculosis than any other pathogen, and the epidemic is sustained by ongoing transmission. Various typing schemes have been developed to identify strain-specific differences and track transmission dynamics in affected communities, with recent introduction of whole genome sequencing providing the most accurate assessment. Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit (MIRU) typing is a family of variable number tandem repeat schemes that have been widely used to study the molecular epidemiology of M. tuberculosis. MIRU typing was used in most well-resourced settings to perform routine molecular epidemiology. Instances of MIRU homoplasy have been observed in comparison with sequence-based phylogenies, limiting its discrim

SUBMITTER: Outhred AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7481465 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature