Genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Pará, Brazil, reveals a higher frequency of ancestral strains than previously reported in South America

• Published in: Infection, genetics and evolution genetics and evolution, 2017-12, Vol.56, p.62-72
• Main Authors: Conceição, Emilyn Costa, Rastogi, Nalin, Couvin, David, Lopes, Maria Luíza, Furlaneto, Ismari Perini, Gomes, Harrison Magdinier, Vasconcellos, Sidra Ezídio Gonçalves, Suffys, Philip Noel, Schneider, Maria Paula Cruz, de Sousa, Maísa Silva, Sola, Christophe, de Paula Souza e Guimarães, Ricardo José, Duarte, Rafael Silva, Batista Lima, Karla Valéria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacteriology; Brazil; EAI lineage; Euro-American lineage; Genetics; Life Sciences; Microbiology and Parasitology; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Population-structure; Spoligotyping
• ISSN: 1567-1348; 1567-7257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2017.10.021

There is only scarce information available on genotypic diversity of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) clinical isolates circulating in the Northern part of Brazil, a relatively neglected region regarding research on tuberculosis. We therefore characterized 980 MTBC clinical isolates from the state of Pará, by spoligotyping and data was compared with patterns from around the world, besides analyzing drug susceptibility, and collecting sociodemographic data. We also performed 24 loci MIRU-VNTR typing to evaluate phylogenetic inferences among the East-African-Indian (EAI) lineage strains. The Geographic Information System analyses were performed to generate a descriptive visualization of MTBC strain distribution in the region. A total of 249 different spoligopatterns primarily belonging to evolutionary recent Euro-American lineages, as well as Central-Asian, Manu and ancestral EAI lineages, were identified, in addition to strains with reportedly unknown lineage signatures. The most frequent lineages were Latin American Mediterranean, T and Haarlem. Interestingly, EAI lineage strains were found in a significantly higher proportion in comparison with previous studies from South America. Regarding EAI lineage, the absence of spacers 4–9 and 23–24 co-related to 24 loci MIRU-VNTRs may suggest a close evolutionary relationship between such strains in Pará and those prevalent in Mozambique, which might have contributed to the genetic diversity of MTBC strains in this region. •The first detailed attempt on MTBC molecular characterization to decipher phylogenetic determinants of TB in Pará, Brazil.•TB in the northern region of Brazil, is mostly related to LAM, T, Haarlem and EAI.•EAI strains were found in a higher proportion as compared to previous studies from South America.•Twenty patterns presenting the typical signature of the EAI were not previously reported in the SpolDB4/SITVIT2 databases.•A close evolutionary relationship between EAI strains in Pará with those predominant in Mozambique is suggested.