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Review
. 2011 Jun;17(6):815-20.
doi: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2011.03556.x.

Strain diversity, epistasis and the evolution of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

S Borrell  1 , S Gagneux
Affiliations
Review

Strain diversity, epistasis and the evolution of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

S Borrell et al. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis harbours little DNA sequence diversity compared with other bacteria. However, there is mounting evidence that strain-to-strain variation in this organism has been underestimated. We review our current understanding of the genetic diversity among M. tuberculosis clinical strains and discuss the relevance of this diversity for the ongoing global epidemics of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Based on findings in other bacteria, we propose that epistatic interactions between pre-existing differences in strain genetic background, acquired drug-resistance-conferring mutations and compensatory changes could play a role in the emergence and spread of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

TRANSPARENCY DECLARATION

Conflicts of interest: nothing to declare.

Figures

Figure
Figure. Proposed epistatic interactions in drug-resistant MTBC
Human-adapted MTBC consists of six main phynologenetic lineages. The genetic background of these strain lineages could interact differently with drug resistance-conferring mutations. Similar interactions could occur between different drug resistance-conferring mutations and compensatory mutations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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