ONT Sequencing of rare lineages to construct an Mtb pangenome reference graph

Structural variants have been largely understudied in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genome. To fully elucidate their role in the Mtb genome, we have created a Mtb pangenome reference graph (PRG) from more than 1,000 isolates. These isolates come from diverse lineages to better capture the full scope of SV diversity across the Mtb phylogeny. New, rare ONT-sequenced sub-lineages are included in this study. By creating a Mtb-PRG we can also now more confidently genotype SVs across Illumina Mtb data. We find SVs important for Mtb virulence and drug resistance.