Abstract:
Objective To understand gene deletion associated bedaquiline resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Methods During 2017−2020, a total of 807 strains of M. tuberculosis were collected from the southern area of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region for whole genome sequencing, then TB-Profiler was used to detect the strain lineages and predict the strains’ susceptibilities to 7 antibiotics, including isoniazid, rifampicin, fluoroquinolone, and so on. In the 807 isolates, 44 pre-extensively drug resistant (Pre-XDR) strains were selected and 125 isolates were randomly selected for the tests of gene deletion by using Delly 0.9.1 software, the mutations in Rv0678, atpE and pepQ by using C++ script program, and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of bedaquiline to the strains by using the micro-broth dilution microplate method. The association between gene deletion and bedaquiline resistance and the difference in bedaquiline resistance rates and MIC levels among the strains in different lineages were analyzed by χ2 test and rank-sum test.
Results A total of 49 gene deletion types, including 8 types involving > 5 strains, and 23 bedaquiline resistant strains were identified in 44 Pre-XDR strains. In the 44 Pre-XDR isolates, the bedaquiline resistance rate and MIC level of the deletion group of 2729618 bp–2729833 bp (Rv2434c) were lower than those of the non-deletion group (χ2=6.145, P=0.013 and Z=−2.224, P=0.026); multi-gene deletion group of 2235169 bp–2235233 bp (ctpG), 1710766 bp–1711557 bp (Rv1519–Rv1520) and 3952924 bp–3954223 bp (echA19–Rv3517) showed higher bedaquiline resistance rate and MIC level compared with non-deletion group (χ2=4.322, P=0.038 and Z=−2.526, P=0.012). However, no significant difference was found among the 125 strains (including 23 bedaquiline resistant strains) used for validation (χ2=1.660, P=0.198 and Z=−1.152, P=0.249). Combined analysis on the 44 strains and 125 strains revealed that only the multi-gene deletion group of 2235169 bp–2235233 bp (ctpG), 1710766 bp–1711557 bp (Rv1519–Rv1520) and 3952924 bp–3954223 bp (echA19–Rv3517) had higher bedaquiline resistance rate compared with non-deletion group (χ2=6.396, P=0.011), and the multi-gene deletion occurred only in the lineage 3 strains, meanwhile, one-by-one comparisons revealed that the resistance rate to bedaquiline was significantly higher in the lineage 3 strains than in the lineage 4 strains (P<0.017).
Conclusion Multi-gene deletions of 2235169 bp–2235233 bp (ctpG), 1710766 bp–1711557 bp (Rv1519–Rv1520) and 3952924 bp–3954223 bp (echA19-Rv3517) were unique in the lineage 3 strains in southern Xinjiang (compared with other lineages in this area), and its relationship with bedaquiline resistance was not stable. The lineage 3 strains might be more inclined to resistant to bedaquiline compared with the lineage 4 strains. The sample size of the study was small and further validation in larger samples is needed. These results provide clues for the understanding of the mechanism of bedaquiline resistance and the control of the spread of bedaquiline resistant strains.