Implementation of the new integrated algorithm for diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Karnataka State, India: How well are we doing?

Background: As per national policy, all diagnosed tuberculosis patients in India are to be tested using Xpert® MTB/RIF assay at the district level to diagnose rifampicin resistance. Regardless of the result, samples are transported to the reference laboratories for further testing: first-line Line Probe Assay (FL-LPA) for rifampicin-sensitive samples and second-line LPA(SL-LPA) for rifampicin-resistant samples. Based on the results, samples undergo culture and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing.

Proteogenomic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by high resolution mass spectrometry.

The genome sequencing of H37Rv strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was completed in 1998 followed by the whole genome sequencing of a clinical isolate, CDC1551 in 2002. Since then, the genomic sequences of a number of other strains have become available making it one of the better studied pathogenic bacterial species at the genomic level. However, annotation of its genome remains challenging because of high GC content and dissimilarity to other model prokaryotes.