Comparative genetic analysis of Mycobacterium ulcerans and Mycobacterium marinum reveals evidence of recent divergence.

ABSTRACT: Previous studies of the 16S rRNA genes from Mycobacterium ulcerans and Mycobacterium marinum have suggested a very close genetic relationship between these species (99.6% identity). However, these organisms are phenotypically distinct and cause diseases with very different pathologies. To investigate this apparent paradox, we compared 3,306 nucleotides from the partial sequences of eight housekeeping and structural genes derived from 18 M. ulcerans strains and 22 M. marinum strains. This analysis confirmed the close genetic relationship inferred from the 16S rRNA data, with nucleotide sequence identity ranging from 98.1 to 99.7%. The multilocus sequence analysis also confirmed previous genotype studies of M. ulcerans that have identified distinct genotypes within a geographical region. Sin

SUBMITTER: Stinear TP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC94777 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature