Genomic evidence for lineage-specific adaptation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. MTBC Lineages

Identify virulence determinants in the genome of pathogens requires that the pathogen adapts to virulence and that adaptations are detectable. The causative agent of tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) is genetically heterogeneous, structured in 7 lineages that accumulate functional non synonymous (NS) mutations. But the adaptive role of MTBC mutations in virulence is controversial. We have used population and evolutionary analyses on whole genome sequences of 419 widely distributed clinical strains to study if lineage specific adaptations occur and thus could impact on differential phenotype.