New Zealand has a low burden of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), but with increased mobility within the population, rapid detection and treatment of MDR-TB is a priority from the public health point of view. Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory in LabPLUS, Auckland City Hospital receives referred Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates from all over New Zealand for second-line drug susceptibility testing (DST) and 24-loci MIRU VNTR genotyping. Between 2002 and 2013, 38 multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates were recorded by culture-based DST.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Rangipo strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis achieved notoriety in New Zealand due to its role in several tuberculosis (TB) outbreaks. Why this strain should be the source of relatively large clusters of the disease is unknown. In this work, we performed an in-depth analysis of the genome of the Rangipo strain to determine whether it offers clues to understanding its prevalence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Rangipo genotype of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex has been associated with a number of tuberculosis (TB) outbreaks in New Zealand. We report here the draft whole-genome sequence of a representative isolate of this strain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report here the draft whole-genome sequence of a drug-susceptible lineage 3 (East-African Indian) isolate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from New Zealand (NZ3DS1) and compare it to a multidrug-resistant lineage 3 isolate (NZ3MDR1) with an identical 24-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat profile.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultidrug resistance constitutes a threat worldwide to the management of tuberculosis (TB). We report the draft whole-genome sequence of a lineage 3 (East-African Indian) isolate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis which presented as multidrug resistant in New Zealand, and describe a number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in genes relating to drug resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis has now been described in >90 countries worldwide. The first case of XDR tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in New Zealand was recorded in 2010. We report the draft whole-genome sequence of the New Zealand isolate, NZXDR1, and describe a number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms that relate to drug resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rapid divergence of repetitive sequences makes them desirable markers for phylogenetic studies of closely related groups, provided that a high level of sequence homogeneity has been maintained within species. Intraspecific polymorphisms are found in an increasing number of studies now, and this highlights the need to determine why these occur. In this study we examined intraindividual variation present in the first ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) from a group of cryptic mosquito species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe examined the intraindividual variation present in the first ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) of Anopheles farauti to determine the level of divergence among populations for this important malarial vector. We isolated 187 clones from 70 individuals and found regional variation among four internal tandem repeats. The data were partitioned prior to analysis given the presence of a paralogous ITS2 sequence, called the 5'-subrepeat, inserted in the ITS1 of most clones.
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