Inter- and intra-strain variability of tandem repeats in Mycoplasma pneumoniae based on next-generation sequencing data. (February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Jing; Song, Xiaohong; Ma, Marella J; Xiao, Li; Kenri, Tsuyoshi; Sun, Hongmei; Ptacek, Travis; Li, Shaoli; Waites, Ken B; Atkinson, T Prescott; Shibayama, Keigo; Dybvig, Kevin; Feng, Yanmei
• Is Part Of: Future microbiology. Volume 12:Number 2(2017)
• Page Start: 119
• Page End: 129
• Publication Date: 2017-02
• Subjects: Mycoplasma pneumoniae -- next-generation sequencing -- tandem repeats; Microbiology -- Research -- Periodicals; 616.9041
• DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2016-0111
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-0913

Abstract

Aim: To characterize inter- and intra-strain variability of variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) in Mycoplasma pneumoniae to determine the optimal multilocus VNTR analysis scheme for improved strain typing.Methods: Whole genome assemblies and next-generation sequencing data from diverse M. pneumoniae isolates were used to characterize VNTRs and their variability, and to compare the strain discriminability of new VNTR and existing markers.Results: We identified 13 VNTRs including five reported previously. These VNTRs displayed different levels of inter- and intra-strain copy number variations. All new markers showed similar or higher discriminability compared with existing VNTR markers and the P1 typing system.Conclusion: Our study provides novel insights into VNTR variations and potential new multilocus VNTR analysis schemes for improved genotyping of M. pneumoniae .