Abstract:
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that remains an essential public health problem in
many countries. Despite decreasing numbers of new cases worldwide, the incidence of
antibiotic-resistant forms (multidrug resistant and extensively drug-resistant) of TB is
increasing. Next-generation sequencing technologies provide a high-throughput
approach to identify known and novel potential genetic variants that are associated
with drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). There are limited reports
and data related to whole-genome characteristics of drug-resistant Mtb strains
circulating in Kazakhstan. Here, we report whole-genome sequencing and analysis
results of eight multidrug-resistant strains collected from TB patients in Kazakhstan.
Genotyping and validation of all strains by MIRU-VNTR and spoligotyping
methodologies revealed that these strains belong to the Beijing family. The spectrum
of specific and potentially novel genomic variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms,
insertions, and deletions) related to drug resistance was identified and annotated.
ResFinder, CARD, and CASTB antibiotic resistance databases were used for the
characterization of genetic variants in genes associated with drug resistance. Our
results provide reference data and genomic profiles of multidrug-resistant isolates for
further comparative studies and investigations of genetic patterns in drug-resistant Mtb
strains.