Abstract
In a previous study of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, we identified a unique group of strains, designated here as the Guinea-Bissau family of strains, which, although genotypically closely related, phenotypically demonstrated a considerable heterogeneity. We conducted here a detailed genotypic analysis of a subset (n=35) of these isolates. Based on the data obtained, and by comparison of known corresponding genes in mycobacteria outside the M. tuberculosis complex, we propose that the Guinea-Bissau strains belong to a unique branch of the M. tuberculosis complex tree in between classical M. tuberculosis and classical M. bovis. These observations are discussed in their significance in M. tuberculosis complex classification. (C) 2004 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.
Keywords
tuberculosis; Africa; evolution
Published in
Microbes and Infection
2004, volume: 6, number: 3, pages: 272-278
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
UKÄ Subject classification
Infectious Medicine
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micinf.2003.12.006
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/4256