Comparative Genomic and Transcriptomic Analyses of Mycobacterium kansasii Subtypes Provide New Insights Into Their Pathogenicity and Taxonomy
Date
2020-03-24Author
Guan, QingtianUmmels, Roy
Ben-Rached, Fathia
Alzahid, Yara
Amini, Mohammad S.
Adroub, Sabir A.
Ingen, Jakko van
Bitter, Wilbert
Abdallah, Abdallah M.
Pain, Arnab
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Show full item recordAbstract
Mycobacterium kansasii is an important opportunistic pathogen of humans and has a
close phylogenetic relationship with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Seven subtypes (I–VII)
have been identified using molecular biology approaches, of which subtype I is the
most frequent causative agent of human disease. To investigate the genotypes and
pathogenic components of M. kansasii, we sequenced and compared the complete
base-perfect genomes of different M. kansasii subtypes. Our findings support the
proposition that M. kansasii “subtypes” I-VI, whose assemblies are currently available,
should be considered as different species. Furthermore, we identified the exclusive
presence of the espACD operon in M. kansasii subtype I, and we confirmed its role in the
pathogenicity of M. kansasii in a cell infection model. The espACD operon is exclusively
present in mycobacterial species that induce phagosomal rupture in host phagocytes
and is known to be a major determinant of ESX1-mediated virulence in pathogenic
mycobacteria. Comparative transcriptome analysis of the M. kansasii I-V strains identified
genes potentially associated with virulence. Using a comparative genomics approach,
we designed primers for PCR genotyping of M. kansasii subtypes I-V and tested their
efficacy using clinically relevant strains of M. kansasii.
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