法英等國(guó)研究人員近日在新一期《自然遺傳學(xué)》雜志網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上報(bào)告說，他們探明了引起結(jié)核病的結(jié)核分枝桿菌的起源，這一成果有助于開發(fā)防止結(jié)核病的新方法。

　　結(jié)核分枝桿菌是引起結(jié)核病的元兇，雖然還有一些種類的分枝桿菌也可能使人患上結(jié)核病，但結(jié)核分枝桿菌是其中傳播最廣泛、致病能力最強(qiáng)的病菌。

　　法國(guó)巴斯德研究所領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的研究小組對(duì)不同分枝桿菌的基因組進(jìn)行分析比較后發(fā)現(xiàn)，結(jié)核分枝桿菌與卡式分枝桿菌的基因組總體結(jié)構(gòu)極為相似，應(yīng)該是由同一古老菌種進(jìn)化而來。

　　此外，研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)了結(jié)核分枝桿菌進(jìn)化出較強(qiáng)傳染性與致病性的若干基因機(jī)制。研究人員認(rèn)為這些發(fā)現(xiàn)有助于研發(fā)防止結(jié)核病的新方法，幫助醫(yī)衛(wèi)部門實(shí)現(xiàn)控制結(jié)核病的目標(biāo)。

　　結(jié)核病是世界上傳播最廣泛的疾病之一，影響到世界上三分之一的人口。據(jù)世界衛(wèi)生組織統(tǒng)計(jì)，2011年約有140萬人死于結(jié)核病。

　　Genomic analysis of smooth tubercle bacilli provides insights into ancestry and pathoadaptation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

　　ABSTRACT

　　Global spread and limited genetic variation are hallmarks of M. tuberculosis, the agent of human tuberculosis. In contrast, Mycobacterium canettii and related tubercle bacilli that also cause human tuberculosis and exhibit unusual smooth colony morphology are restricted to East Africa. Here, we sequenced and analyzed the whole genomes of five representative strains of smooth tubercle bacilli (STB) using Sanger (4–5× coverage), 454/Roche (13–18× coverage) and/or Illumina DNA sequencing (45–105× coverage). We show that STB isolates are highly recombinogenic and evolutionarily early branching, with larger genome sizes, higher rates of genetic variation, fewer molecular scars and distinct CRISPR-Cas systems relative to M. tuberculosis. Despite the differences, all tuberculosis-causing mycobacteria share a highly conserved core genome. Mouse infection experiments showed that STB strains are less persistent and virulent than M. tuberculosis. We conclude that M. tuberculosis emerged from an ancestral STB-like pool of mycobacteria by gain of persistence and virulence mechanisms, and we provide insights into the molecular events involved.