AUTHOR=Renau-Mínguez Chantal , Herrero-Abadía Paula , Ruiz-Rodriguez Paula , Sentandreu Vicente , Torrents Eduard , Chiner-Oms Álvaro , Torres-Puente Manuela , Comas Iñaki , Julián Esther , Coscolla Mireia 

TITLE=Genomic analysis of Mycobacterium brumae sustains its nonpathogenic and immunogenic phenotype

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.982679

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.982679

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Mycobacterium brumae</italic> is a rapid-growing, non-pathogenic <italic>Mycobacterium</italic> species, originally isolated from environmental and human samples in Barcelona, Spain. <italic>Mycobacterium brumae</italic> is not pathogenic and it’s <italic>in vitro</italic> phenotype and immunogenic properties have been well characterized. However, the knowledge of its underlying genetic composition is still incomplete. In this study, we first describe the 4 Mb genome of the <italic>M</italic>. <italic>brumae</italic> type strain ATCC 51384<sup>T</sup> assembling PacBio reads, and second, we assess the low intraspecies variability by comparing the type strain with Illumina reads from three additional strains. <italic>Mycobacterium brumae</italic> genome is composed of a circular chromosome with a high GC content of 69.2% and containing 3,791 CDSs, 97 pseudogenes, one prophage and no CRISPR loci. <italic>Mycobacterium brumae</italic> has shown no pathogenic potential in <italic>in vivo</italic> experiments, and our genomic analysis confirms its phylogenetic position with other non-pathogenic and rapid growing mycobacteria. Accordingly, we determined the absence of virulence-related genes, such as ESX-1 locus and most PE/PPE genes, among others. Although the immunogenic potential of <italic>M</italic>. <italic>brumae</italic> was proved to be as high as <italic>Mycobacterium bovis</italic> BCG, the only mycobacteria licensed to treat cancer, the genomic content of <italic>M</italic>. <italic>tuberculosis</italic> T cell and B cell antigens in <italic>M</italic>. <italic>brumae</italic> genome is considerably lower than those antigens present in <italic>M</italic>. <italic>bovis</italic> BCG genome. Overall, this work provides relevant genomic data on one of the species of the mycobacterial genus with high therapeutic potential.</p>