Characterization of Mycobacterium caprae isolates from Europe by mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit genotyping
Journal of Clinical Microbiology publish this investigation article
October 1st, 2005
Mycobacterium caprae, a recently defined member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, causes tuberculosis among animals and, to a limited extent, in humans in several European countries. To characterize M. caprae in comparison with other Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex members and to evaluate genotyping methods for this species, we analyzed 232 M. caprae isolates by mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit (MIRU) genotyping and by spoligotyping. The isolates originated from 128 distinct epidemiological settings in 10 countries, spanning a period of 25 years. We found 78 different MIRU patterns (53 unique types and 25 clusters with group sizes from 2 to 9) but only 17 spoligotypes, giving Hunter-Gaston discriminatory indices of 0.941 (MIRU typing) and 0.665 (spoligotyping). For a subset of 103 M. caprae isolates derived from outbreaks or endemic foci, MIRU genotyping and IS 6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism were compared and shown to provide similar results. MIRU loci 4, 26, and 31 were most discriminant in M. caprae, followed by loci 10 and 16, a combination which is different than those reported to discriminate M. bovis best. M. caprae MIRU patterns together with published data were used for phylogenetic inference analysis employing the neighbor-joining method. M. caprae isolates were grouped together, closely related to the branches of classical M. bovis, M. pinnipedii, M. microti, and ancestral M. tuberculosis, but apart from modern M. tuberculosis. The analysis did not reflect geographic patterns indicative of origin or spread of M. caprae. Altogether, our data confirm M. caprae as a distinct phylogenetic lineage within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex
Prodinger WM., Brandstatter A., Naumann N., Pacciarini M., Kubica T., Boschiroli ML., Aranaz A., Nagy G., Cvetnic Z., Ocepek M., Skrypnyk A., Erler W., Niemann S., Pavlik I. and Moser I.
 | Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM). |
| Servicio de Micobacterias (MYC). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM). |
| Division of Virology (Department of Hygiene, Microbiology and Social Medicine). Innsbruck Medical University. | |
| Institute of Legal Medicine. Innsbruck Medical University. | |
| Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority. | |
| Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell Emilia Romagna (IZSLER). | |
| National Reference Center for Mycobacteria. Forschungszentrum Borstel (FZB). | |
 | Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l´alimentation, de l´environnement et du travail (ANSES). |
 | Central Veterinary Institute. Wageningen University (UR). |
| Croatian Veterinary Institute. | |
| Faculty of Medicine. University of Ljubljana (UL). | |
 | National Veterinary Reference Laboratory for Tuberculosis. Friedrich Loeffler Institut-Bundesforschungsinstitut fuer Tiergesundheit (FLI). |
| Veterinary Research Institute. Czechoslovak Academy of Agricultural Sciences. | |
