AUTHOR=Mei You-Ming , Zhang Wen-Yue , Sun Ji-Ya , Jiang Hai-Qin , Shi Ying , Xiong Jing-Shu , Wang Le , Chen Yan-Qing , Long Si-Yu , Pan Chun , Luo Tao , Wang Hong-Sheng 

TITLE=Genomic characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates of cutaneous tuberculosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1165916

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1165916

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objectives</title><p>Cutaneous tuberculosis with various manifestations can be divided into several clinical types according to the host's immune status and infective route. However, the etiological factors of this disease remain unclear. The objective of this study is to investigate the pathogens associated with the occurrence and different types of cutaneous tuberculosis.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>58 <italic>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</italic> strains isolated from cutaneous tuberculosis over the last 20 years were sequenced and analyzed for genomic characteristics including lineage distribution, drug-resistance mutations, and mutations potentially associated with different sites of infection.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The <italic>M. tuberculosis</italic> strains from four major types of cutaneous tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis shared similar genotypes and genomic composition. The strains isolated from cutaneous tuberculosis had a lower rate of drug resistance. Phylogenic analysis showed cutaneous tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis isolates scattered on the three. Several SNPs in metabolism related genes exhibited a strong correlation with different infection sites.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>The different infection sites of TB may barely be affected by large genomic changes in <italic>M. tuberculosis</italic> isolates, but the significant difference in SNPs of drug resistance gene and metabolism-related genes still deserves more attention.</p></sec>