Towards next-generation diagnostics for tuberculosis: identification of novel molecular targets by large-scale comparative genomics.

ABSTRACT:

Motivation

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the main causes of death worldwide. The long and cumbersome process of culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) bacteria has encouraged the development of specific molecular tools for detecting the pathogen. Most of these tools aim to become novel TB diagnostics, and big efforts and resources are invested in their development, looking for the endorsement of the main public health agencies. Surprisingly, no study has been conducted where the vast amount of genomic data available is used to identify the best MTBC diagnostic markers.

Results

In this work, we used large-scale comparative genomics to identify 40 MTBC-specific loci. We assessed their genetic diversity and physiological features to select 30 that are good targe

SUBMITTER: Goig GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7703747 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature