Dataset Information

Disseminated Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection in Wild Grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus), Cote d'Ivoire.

ABSTRACT: Buruli ulcer is an infectious disease provoking chronic, disabling skin ulcers in mammals and humans. Buruli ulcer is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, an environmental mycobacterium synthesizing a toxin called mycolactone responsible for the pathogenicity. The reservoirs and the modes of transmission of M. ulcerans remain elusive, limiting the prophylaxis capabilities in rural areas in endemic countries. In Australia, several studies have demonstrated the probable role of possums as reservoirs. In Côte d'Ivoire, some studies have speculated on the potential role of grasscutters in the transmission cycle of M. ulcerans. In this study, we detected M. ulcerans-specific sequences in rectal contents and spleens collected in wild grasscutters hunted in Buruli ulcer-endemic area in Côte d'Ivoire, but not in farmed negative control animals and in domesticated animals, namely, pigs, goats, cattle, and dogs, living in close contact with the local population. Some grasscutters exhibited the same sequence pattern in the feces and spleen. These observations confirm the asymptomatic gut carriage of M. ulcerans in this mammal species. Moreover, these observations suggest the dissemination of M. ulcerans from the gut to the spleen in grasscutters. These observations suggest that, in some mammals, M. ulcerans is not only an inoculated pathogen but also a translocating invasive pathogen.

SUBMITTER: Hammoudi N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6726967 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Disseminated Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection in Wild Grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus), Côte d'Ivoire.

Hammoudi Nassim N Dizoe Agui Sylvestre AS Regoui Sofiane S Davoust Bernard B Drancourt Michel M Bouam Amar A

The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 20190901 3

Buruli ulcer is an infectious disease provoking chronic, disabling skin ulcers in mammals and humans. Buruli ulcer is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, an environmental mycobacterium synthesizing a toxin called mycolactone responsible for the pathogenicity. The reservoirs and the modes of transmission of M. ulcerans remain elusive, limiting the prophylaxis capabilities in rural areas in endemic countries. In Australia, several studies have demonstrated the probable role of possums ...[more]

PMID: 31333157

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Project description:Mycobacterium ulcerans, an environmental opportunistic pathogen, causes necrotic cutaneous and subcutaneous lesions, named Buruli ulcers, in tropical countries. PCR-derived tests used to detect M. ulcerans in environmental and clinical samples do not allow one-shot detection, identification, and typing of M. ulcerans among closely related Mycobacterium marinum complex mycobacteria. We established a 385-member M. marinum/M. ulcerans complex whole-genome sequence database by assembling and annotating 341 M. marinum/M. ulcerans complex genomes and added 44 M. marinum/M. ulcerans complex whole-genome sequences already deposited in the NCBI database. Pangenome, core genome, and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) distance-based comparisons sorted the 385 strains into 10 M. ulcerans taxa and 13 M. marinum taxa, correlating with the geographic origin of strains. Aligning conserved genes identified one PPE (proline-proline-glutamate) gene sequence to be species and intraspecies specific, thereby genotyping the 23 M. marinum/M. ulcerans complex taxa. PCR sequencing of the PPE gene correctly genotyped nine M. marinum/M. ulcerans complex isolates among one M. marinum taxon and three M. ulcerans taxa in the African taxon (T2.4). Further, successful PPE gene PCR sequencing in 15/21 (71.4%) swabs collected from suspected Buruli ulcer lesions in Côte d'Ivoire exhibited positive M. ulcerans IS2404 real-time PCR and identified the M. ulcerans T2.4.1 genotype in eight swabs and M. ulcerans T2.4.1/T2.4.2 mixed genotypes in seven swabs. PPE gene sequencing could be used as a proxy for whole-genome sequencing for the one-shot detection, identification, and typing of clinical M. ulcerans strains, offering an unprecedented tool for identifying M. ulcerans mixed infections. IMPORTANCE We describe a new targeted sequencing approach that characterizes the PPE gene to disclose the simultaneous presence of different variants of a single pathogenic microorganism. This approach has direct implications on the understanding of pathogen diversity and natural history and potential therapeutic implications when dealing with obligate and opportunistic pathogens, such as Mycobacterium ulcerans presented here as a prototype.

Dataset Information

Disseminated Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection in Wild Grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus), Cote d'Ivoire.

Publications

Disseminated <i>Mycobacterium ulcerans</i> Infection in Wild Grasscutters (<i>Thryonomys swinderianus</i>), Côte d'Ivoire.

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