Inter- and intra-strain variability of tandem repeats in Mycoplasma pneumoniae based on next-generation sequencing
Jing Zhang1,2, Xiaohong Song2,3, Marella J Ma4
1Department of Pathogenic Biology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Aim:
To characterize inter- and intra-strain variability of variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) in Mycoplasma pneumoniae to determine the optimal multilocus VNTR analysis scheme for improved strain typing.
Methods:
Whole genome assemblies and next-generation sequencing data from diverse M. pneumoniae isolates were used to characterize VNTRs and their variability, and to compare the strain discriminability of new VNTR and existing markers.
Results:
We identified 13 VNTRs including five reported previously. These VNTRs displayed different levels of inter- and intra-strain copy number variations. All new markers showed similar or higher discriminability compared with existing VNTR markers and the P1 typing system.
Conclusion:
Our study provides novel insights into VNTR variations and potential new multilocus VNTR analysis schemes for improved genotyping of M. pneumoniae.
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