Role of MIRU-VNTR and spoligotyping in assessing the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Henan Province, China

Jie Shi, Danwei Zheng, Yankun Zhu, Xiaoguang Ma, Shaohua Wang, Hui Li, Jin Xing

Tuberculosis remains a serious threat to human health as an infectious disease in China. Henan, a most populated province in China, has a high incidence of tuberculosis (TB). Though the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has been investigated in many regions, there have been only a few studies on the molecular characteristics and drug resistance phenotypes in Henan. This is the first study on the genetic profile of MTB from Henan. A total of 668 MTB isolates from various areas were genotyped with spoligotyping and 26-locus MIRU-VNTR (classical 24-locus MIRU-VNTR and 2 other loci). The association between TB spoligotype signatures and drug-resistant profiles was analysed. Our data revealed that MTB isolates circulating in Henan had a high degree of genetic variation. The Beijing family was the most predominant genotype (83.53%,n = 558), and the typical Beijing type(ST1) was the major sublineage (81.73%,n = 546). In total,668 isolates were divided into 567 different types, forming 38 clusters (2-15 isolates per cluster), and 529 unique types by 26-locus MIRU-VNTR analysis. There was no correlation between the Beijing family and gender, age at diagnosis or treatment history, whereas the Beijing family was significantly associated with all four first-line drug resistance and multidrug-resistant phenotypes. For these samples, 15 of 26 MIRU-VNTR loci had high or moderate discriminatory power according to the Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index. A combination of the 10 most polymorphic loci had similar discriminatory power as the 26-locus set. The Beijing genotype is the most prevalent family. Ten-locus MIRU-VNTR in combination with spoligotyping can efficiently classify the molecular type of MTB in Henan Province.