Abstract
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.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1535-1543 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Nature Genetics |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |