Biomedical subjects

Michel Fabre

Publications and source records attributed to Michel Fabre.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Insights into the evolutionary history of tubercle bacilli as disclosed by genetic rearrangements within a PE_PGRS duplicated gene pair.

BACKGROUND: The highly homologous PE_PGRS (Proline-glutamic acid_polymorphic GC-rich repetitive sequence) genes are members of the PE multigene family which is found only in mycobacteria. PE genes are particularly abundant within the genomes of pathogenic mycobacteria where they seem to have expanded as a result of gene duplication events. PE_PGRS genes are characterized by their high GC content and extensive repetitive sequences, making them prone to recombination events and genetic variability. RESULTS: Comparative sequence analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes PE_PGRS17 (Rv0978c) and PE_PGRS18 (Rv0980c) revealed a striking genetic variation associated with this typical tandem duplicate. In comparison to the M. tuberculosis reference strain H37Rv, the variation (named the 12/40 polymorphism) consists of an in-frame 12-bp insertion invariably accompanied by a set of 40 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that occurs either in PE_PGRS17 or in both genes. Sequence analysis of the paralogous genes in a representative set of worldwide distributed tubercle bacilli isolates revealed data which supported previously proposed evolutionary scenarios for the M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and confirmed the very ancient origin of "M. canettii" and other smooth tubercle bacilli. Strikingly, the identified polymorphism appears to be coincident with the emergence of the post-bottleneck successful clone from which the MTBC expanded. Furthermore, the findings provide direct and clear evidence for the natural occurrence of gene conversion in mycobacteria, which appears to be restricted to modern M. tuberculosis strains. CONCLUSION: This study provides a new perspective to explore the molecular events that accompanied the evolution, clonal expansion, and recent diversification of tubercle bacilli.

Evolution, Molecular↗

PubMed2006

Study of the gyrB gene polymorphism as a tool to differentiate among Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex subspecies further underlines the older evolutionary age of 'Mycobacterium canettii'.

The present investigation evaluated the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of hsp65 and gyrB targets for differentiation of the species within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) both by including new restriction enzymes and previously unstudied species. The hsp65 restriction analysis using HhaI resulted in a characteristic 'Mycobacterium canettii' pattern. A study of the gyrB gene polymorphism using TaqIalpha and HinfI allowed the initial division of MTC into two major groups, one consisting of M. tuberculosis and 'M. canettii' as opposed to another single group with other species. Three different patterns were observed with RsaI, the first characteristic of Mycobacterium microti, the second with Mycobacterium bovis, M. bovis BCG and Mycobacterium caprae (M. caprae was easily separated from M. bovis, and M. bovis BCG by SacII digestion), and the third with M. tuberculosis, 'M. canettii', Mycobacterium africanum, Mycobacterium pinnipedii, and the dassie bacillus. Although further discrimination within the last group was not obtained using additional restriction enzymes, the HaeIII and RsaI digestions highlighted an important gyrB polymorphism among 'M. canettii' strains. A study of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) within the gyrB by sequence analysis not only confirmed the results of the restriction analysis, but showed further differences among 'M. canettii' isolates that were not picked up using the existing battery of restriction enzymes. As many as 11 different SNPs were identified in the collection of eight 'M. canettii' isolates studied. Considering that gyrB variability among MTC member species other than 'M. canettii' is as restricted as hsp65 variability among MTC, our data corroborate a recent proposition that the 'M. canettii' group is evolutionary much older than the other MTC members. In conclusion, gyrB PCR-RFLP is a simple and rapid low-cost method that combined with phenotypic characteristics, may be helpful to differentiate most of the subspecies within the MTC.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗

PubMed2006

[Diagnosis of Mycobacterium genavense infection by INNO-LiPA MYCOBACTERIA Amplification v2].

INTRODUCTION: Diagnosis of atypical mycobacterial infections can be facilitated by molecular biology techniques. CASES: Two severely immunodepressed patients were admitted for deterioration of their general health status. Bacteriological analysis of histopathologic fragments showed the presence of acid- and alcohol-resistant bacilli. INNO-LiPA MYCOBACTERIA Amplification v2 made it possible to diagnose Mycobacterium genavense infection. COMMENTS: M. genavense is a slow-growing atypical mycobacterium. The molecular biology techniques used by INNO-LiPA MYCOBACTERIA V2 permit its swift identification.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Novel genetic polymorphisms that further delineate the phylogeny of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.

In a previous report, we described a PCR protocol for the differentiation of the various species of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) on the basis of genomic deletions (R. C. Huard, L. C. de Oliveira Lazzarini, W. R. Butler, D. van Soolingen, and J. L. Ho, J. Clin. Microbiol. 41:1637-1650, 2003). That report also provided a broad cross-comparison of several previously identified, phylogenetically relevant, long-sequence and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (LSPs and SNPs, respectively). In the present companion report, we expand upon the previous work (i) by continuing the evaluation of known MTC phylogenetic markers in a larger collection of tubercle bacilli (n = 125), (ii) by evaluating additional recently reported MTC species-specific and interspecific polymorphisms, and (iii) by describing the identification and distribution of a number of novel LSPs and SNPs. Notably, new genomic deletions were found in various Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, new species-specific SNPs were identified for "Mycobacterium canettii," Mycobacterium microti, and Mycobacterium pinnipedii, and, for the first time, intraspecific single-nucleotide DNA differences were discovered for the dassie bacillus, the oryx bacillus, and the two Mycobacterium africanum subtype I variants. Surprisingly, coincident polymorphisms linked one M. africanum subtype I genotype with the dassie bacillus and M. microti with M. pinnipedii, thereby suggesting closer evolutionary ties within each pair of species than had been previously thought. Overall, the presented data add to the genetic definitions of several MTC organisms as well as fine-tune current models for the evolutionary history of the MTC.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Ancient origin and gene mosaicism of the progenitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The highly successful human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis has an extremely low level of genetic variation, which suggests that the entire population resulted from clonal expansion following an evolutionary bottleneck around 35,000 y ago. Here, we show that this population constitutes just the visible tip of a much broader progenitor species, whose extant representatives are human isolates of tubercle bacilli from East Africa. In these isolates, we detected incongruence among gene phylogenies as well as mosaic gene sequences, whose individual elements are retrieved in classical M. tuberculosis. Therefore, despite its apparent homogeneity, the M. tuberculosis genome appears to be a composite assembly resulting from horizontal gene transfer events predating clonal expansion. The amount of synonymous nucleotide variation in housekeeping genes suggests that tubercle bacilli were contemporaneous with early hominids in East Africa, and have thus been coevolving with their human host much longer than previously thought. These results open novel perspectives for unraveling the molecular bases of M. tuberculosis evolutionary success.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

[A mesenteric tumor].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMed2004

High genetic diversity revealed by variable-number tandem repeat genotyping and analysis of hsp65 gene polymorphism in a large collection of "Mycobacterium canettii" strains indicates that the M. tuberculosis complex is a recently emerged clone of "M. canettii".

We have analyzed, using complementary molecular methods, the diversity of 43 strains of "Mycobacterium canettii" originating from the Republic of Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, from 1998 to 2003. Genotyping by multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis shows that all the strains belong to a single but very distant group when compared to strains of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Thirty-one strains cluster into one large group with little variability and five strains form another group, whereas the other seven are more diverged. In total, 14 genotypes are observed. The DR locus analysis reveals additional variability, some strains being devoid of a direct repeat locus and others having unique spacers. The hsp65 gene polymorphism was investigated by restriction enzyme analysis and sequencing of PCR amplicons. Four new single nucleotide polymorphisms were discovered. One strain was characterized by three nucleotide changes in 441 bp, creating new restriction enzyme polymorphisms. As no sequence variability was found for hsp65 in the whole MTBC, and as a single point mutation separates M. tuberculosis from the closest "M. canettii" strains, this diversity within "M. canettii" subspecies strongly suggests that it is the most probable source species of the MTBC rather than just another branch of the MTBC.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2004

Rapid identification of Mycobacterium genavense with a new commercially available molecular test, INNO-LiPA MYCOBACTERIA v2.

We report a rare mesenteric localized Mycobacterium genavense infection in a severely immunocompromised human immunodeficiency virus-infected patient. An INNO-LiPA MYCOBACTERIA v2 test was performed directly on biopsy samples. This new molecular tool could be used for simultaneous identification of mycobacterium species from human specimens, but other studies are needed to validate our first results.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMed2002

High resolution, on-line identification of strains from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex based on tandem repeat typing.

BACKGROUND: Currently available reference methods for the molecular epidemiology of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex either lack sensitivity or are still too tedious and slow for routine application. Recently, tandem repeat typing has emerged as a potential alternative. This report contributes to the development of tandem repeat typing for M. tuberculosis by summarising the existing data, developing additional markers, and setting up a freely accessible, fast, and easy to use, internet-based service for strain identification. RESULTS: A collection of 21 VNTRs incorporating 13 previously described loci and 8 newly evaluated markers was used to genotype 90 strains from the M. tuberculosis complex (M. tuberculosis (64 strains), M. bovis (9 strains including 4 BCG representatives), M. africanum (17 strains)). Eighty-four different genotypes are defined. Clustering analysis shows that the M. africanum strains fall into three main groups, one of which is closer to the M. tuberculosis strains, and an other one is closer to the M. bovis strains. The resulting data has been made freely accessible over the internet http://bacterial-genotyping.igmors.u-psud.fr/bnserver to allow direct strain identification queries. CONCLUSIONS: Tandem-repeat typing is a PCR-based assay which may prove to be a powerful complement to the existing epidemiological tools for the M. tuberculosis complex. The number of markers to type depends on the identification precision which is required, so that identification can be achieved quickly at low cost in terms of consumables, technical expertise and equipment.

DNA, Bacterial↗

PubMed2002

Craniosynostosis, telecanthus, scalp hair abnormalities, and sensorineural deafness in two sibs.

A sister and a brother with anomalous skull configuration, facial abnormalities, abnormal scalp hair growth, sensorineural hearing loss and, in the boy, proven craniosynostosis, severe mental retardation, and autism were reported in 1986 in an abstract by Hersh et al. We reexamined this family and here review the literature focusing on the major clinical findings, and suggest that their clinical manifestations may represent a previously unreported syndrome.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

PubMed2002

HPV DNA detection by in situ hybridization with catalyzed signal amplification on thin-layer cervical smears.

Thin layer-based technology in cervical cancer screening now allows both Papanicolaou staining and HPV testing on the same sample. Here, we show that in situ hybridization with catalyzed reporter deposition is a powerful HPV detection method when applied on thin-layer cervical smears, allowing distinction between two staining patterns suggestive of two different physical states of HPV DNA, where diffuse signals are suggestive of episomes and punctate signals are suggestive of viral DNA integration.

DNA, Viral↗