Whole genome sequencing analysis of Mycobacterium suricattae. Mycobacterium suricattae

Tuberculosis occurs in various mammalian hosts and is caused by a range of different lineages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. A recently described member, Mycobacterium suricattae, has been reported to cause tuberculosis in meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in Southern Africa. Preliminary genetic analysis showed this pathogen to be closely related to the M. tuberculosis complex dassie bacillus. Here, we make use of whole genome sequencing to describe the evolution of the genome of M. suricattae, including known and novel regions of difference, SNPs and IS6110 insertion sites. We used genome wide phylogenetic analysis to show that M. suricattae clusters with the chimpanzee bacillus, previously isolated in West Africa. We propose an evolutionary scenario for the M. africanum lineage 6 complex, showing the evolutionary relationship of M. africanum and chimpanzee bacillus, and the closely related members M. suricattae, dassie bacillus and M. mungi.