Journal article
On the origin of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer
KD Doig, KE Holt, JAM Fyfe, CJ Lavender, M Eddyani, F Portaels, D Yeboah-Manu, G Pluschke, T Seemann, TP Stinear
BMC Genomics | BMC | Published : 2012
Abstract
Background: Mycobacterium ulcerans is an unusual bacterial pathogen with elusive origins. While closely related to the aquatic dwelling M. marinum, M. ulcerans has evolved the ability to produce the immunosuppressive polyketide toxin mycolactone and cause the neglected tropical disease Buruli ulcer. Other mycolactone-producing mycobacteria (MPM) have been identified in fish and frogs and given distinct species designations (M. pseudoshottsii, M. shinshuense, M. liflandii and M. marinum), however the evolution of M. ulcerans and its relationship to other MPM has not been defined. Here we report the comparative analysis of whole genome sequences from 30 MPM and five M. marinum.Results: A high-..
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Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (628930 & 65195), the Stop Buruli Initiative of the UBS-Optimus Foundation and the Victorian Government Department of Health. We are grateful to Scott Coutts and Jessica Porter for sequencing support, and Matthew Wakefield and Helen Lindsay for their expert assistance regarding PyCogent.