Generalist and specialist species differ in the breadth of their ecological niches. Little is known about the niche width of obligate human pathogens. Here we analyzed a global collection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 clinical isolates, the most geographically widespread cause of human tuberculosis. We show that lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages, suggesting a distinction between generalists and specialists. Population genomic analyses showed that, whereas the majority of human T cell epitopes were conserved in all sublineages, the proportion of variable epitopes was higher in generalists. Our data further support a European origin for the most common generalist sublineage. Hence, the global success of lineage 4 reflects distinct strategies adopted by different sublineages and the influence of human migration.
- Stucki, D.
- Brites, D.
- Jeljeli, L.
- Coscolla, M.
- Liu, Q.
- Trauner, A.
- Fenner, L.
- Rutaihwa, L.
- Borrell, S.
- Luo, T.
- Gao, Q.
- Kato-Maeda, M.
- Ballif, M.
- Egger, M.
- Macedo, R.
- Mardassi, H.
- Moreno, M.
- Tudo Vilanova, G.
- Fyfe, J.
- Globan, M.
- Thomas, J.
- Jamieson, F.
- Guthrie, J. L.
- Asante-Poku, A.
- Yeboah-Manu, D.
- Wampande, E.
- Ssengooba, W.
- Joloba, M.
- Henry Boom, W.
- Basu, I.
- Bower, J.
- Saraiva, M.
- Vaconcellos, S. E. G.
- Suffys, P.
- Koch, A.
- Wilkinson, R.
- Gail-Bekker, L.
- Malla, B.
- Ley, S. D.
- Beck, H. P.
- de Jong, B. C.
- Toit, K.
- Sanchez-Padilla, E.
- Bonnet, M.
- Gil-Brusola, A.
- Frank, M.
- Penlap Beng, V. N.
- Eisenach, K.
- Alani, I.
- Wangui Ndung'u, P.
- Revathi, G.
- Gehre, F.
- Akter, S.
- Ntoumi, F.
- Stewart-Isherwood, L.
- Ntinginya, N. E.
- Rachow, A.
- Hoelscher, M.
- Cirillo, D. M.
- Skenders, G.
- Hoffner, S.
- Bakonyte, D.
- Stakenas, P.
- Diel, R.
- Crudu, V.
- Moldovan, O.
- Al-Hajoj, S.
- Otero, L.
- Barletta, F.
- Jane Carter, E.
- Diero, L.
- Supply, P.
- Comas, I.
- Niemann, S.
- Gagneux, S.
Keywords
- DNA, Bacterial/*analysis
- Genomics/*methods
- Genotype
- Global Health
- Humans
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis/*classification/*genetics/isolation & purification
- Phylogeography
- Polymorphism, Genetic/*genetics
- Tuberculosis/genetics/*microbiology