Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance 19 (2019) 98–103 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jgar Sequencing of the entire rpob gene and characterization of mutations in isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis circulating in an endemic tuberculosis setting a,b a a c Jorge Fernando Luna , Hilda Montero , Clara Luz Sampieri , Raquel Muñiz-Salazar , a, Roberto Zenteno-Cuevas * a Instituto de Salud Pública, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico b Universidad del Istmo Campus Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico c Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Objective: To evaluate the use of a sequencing procedure for the entire rpoB gene of Mycobacterium Received 5 October 2018 tuberculosis to identify mutations pre-rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR), within RRDR, Received in revised form 26 February 2019 and post-RRDR in isolates circulating in a region affected by tuberculosis (TB). Accepted 3 March 2019 Methods: Five primers were designed, with which five DNA fragments of rpoB were obtained, sequenced Available online 11 March 2019 by Sanger, and analysed in silico in order to identify mutations over the entire rpoB gene in rifampicin- sensitive and rifampicin-resistant TB. Keywords: Results: It was possible to analyse the entire rpoB gene in five rifampicin-sensitive and 15 rifampicin- Tuberculosis resistant isolates. Thirty-six mutations were identified. Two mutations were found pre-RRDR, nine Rifampicin Resistance within-RRDR and 25 post-RRDR. The most frequent mutations within RRDR were S531L (53%), followed rpoB by S512T (20%), all of which were found in rifampicin-resistant isolates. Of the 25 mutations found post- RRDR, 14 were only in resistant isolates, and the most frequent was D853N, which was present in 85% of isolates. Mutations E818K, D836N and T882P were observed in 80% of the rifampicin-resistant and rifampicin-sensitive isolates. Conclusions: The proposed sequencing method allowed identification of mutations in the entire rpoB gene. This procedure represents a useful tool for diagnosing rifampicin resistance. The number of mutations that were found raises new questions about the diversity of mutations in the rpoB gene and their role in rifampicin resistance in regions where TB is endemic. © 2019 International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction this problem could threaten the attempts to eliminate TB as a global public health problem by 2030 [1]. According to the global report on tuberculosis (TB), of the 10.5 The rpoB gene encodes for the β subunit of Mycobacterium million cases reported in 2017, 600 000 were rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) RNA polymerase, and mutations in (RR), 490 000 were multidrug-resistant (combined resistance to this gene have been described as the main reason for rifampicin rifampicin and isoniazid, MDR-TB) and 25 000 showed extensive resistance [2,3]. Of the 3519 bp that comprise this gene, 80–90% of drug resistance [1]. This increase in the incidence of drug-resistant the RR isolates have mutations within an 81 bp portion known as TB is more significant in populations with a high prevalence of the the rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR) [4,5]. All of disease, which are predominantly found in developing countries. the genotypic tests for RR diagnosis focus on analysis and Such is the impact of this increase that it has been suggested that identification of mutations within the RRDR [6–9]. However, there is an increasing number of reports describing mutations associated with RR outside the RRDR and, as a consequence, the effectiveness of these genotypic diagnostic tests is decreasing [10–13]. * Corresponding author at: Instituto de Salud Pública, Universidad Veracruzana, Due to the importance of detecting new polymorphisms that Av. Luis Castelazo Ayala s/n, A.P. 57 Col. Industrial Animas, Xalapa, Veracruz, 91190, Mexico. could cause RR, the need to identify new mutations that increase fi E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Zenteno-Cuevas). the ef ciency of genotypic testing, and the fact that RR has been https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgar.2019.03.001 2213-7165/© 2019 International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. J.F. Luna et al. / Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance 19 (2019) 98–103 99 established as a surrogate marker for MDR-TB, this paper aimed to 2.3. rpoB fragment Sanger sequencing and assembling develop a procedure with which to sequence the entire rpoB gene and characterise the polymorphisms. The sequencing reactions were performed in forward directions using 6 mL of Big Dye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Kit V3.1 2. Methods (Applied Biosystems), 3.2 pM of forward primer, and 20 ng of purified PCR product in a final volume of 20 mL. The amplification 2.1. Collection of clinical samples, Mycobacterium tuberculosis conditions were 25 cycles of 95 C for 30 s, 50 C for 15 s, and 60 C isolation, and drug susceptibility testing for 4 min. Amplicons were purified using the ZR DNA sequencing clean-up kit (Zymo Research), re-suspended in Hi-Di formamide Sputum samples were collected from different patients from (Applied Biosystems), heated to 95 C for 5 min, cooled on ice, and the state of Veracruz, and confirmed for TB. Collection of the 20 finally loaded onto a 96-well MicroAmp reaction plate (Applied isolates included in this study was conducted by the Mycobacteri- Biosystems). The DNA products were sequenced by capillary ology Department of the Public Health Laboratory of the State of electrophoresis in a Genetic Analyzer 3500 (Applied Biosystems). Veracruz, Mexico, during January–December 2017. Sputum decon- Quality analysis of the fluorescence spectra from the sequenced tamination was performed using N-acetyl-L-Cysteine-NaOH and fragments was performed with the software Data Collection V1.01 mycobacterial isolation was performed using Lowenstein-Jensen (Applied Biosystems). Further assembly of the rpoB fragments from medium. Susceptibility testing followed the fluorometric method each isolate was conducted using the software CodonCode aligner (BACTEC, MGIT 960 Becton-Dickinson) and considered the critical (CodonCode Corporation) and further confirmed by manual concentration for streptomycin (S) of 1.0 mg/mL, isoniazid (H) revision. The obtained rpoB sequence was stored in FASTA format 0.1 mg/mL, rifampin (R) 1.0 mg/mL, pyrazinamide (Z) 100 mg/mL, and the software BioEdit Sequence Aligner Editor V.7.2 (http:// and ethambutol (E) 5.0 mg/mL. www.mbio.ncsu.edu/BioEdit/bioedit.html) was used to compare the sequences and identify polymorphisms, considering the rpoB 2.2. DNA purification and PCR-amplification of rpoB from M. tuberculosis H37Rv as the wild-type reference sequence. Extraction of DNA from the clinical isolates with resistance 3. Results against rifampicin was conducted with one loop of cultured mycobacteria, according to Van Soolingen et al. [14]. The DNA was 3.1. Recovered clinical isolates and rpoB amplification re-suspended in nuclease-free water, and its concentration determined by spectrophotometry in a Nanodrop 1000 (Thermo- Of the 20 collected isolates, 25% (n = 5) were sensitive to Scientific, USA). The resulting DNA solution was then stored at rifampicin, 75% (n = 15) were simultaneously resistant to R and H –20 C until subsequent processing. (MDR-TB), 50% (n = 10) were resistant to S, 35% (n = 7) to Z, 30% For sequencing, the rpoB gene was divided into five fragments. (n = 6) to E, and 20% (n = 4) showed resistance to all first-line drugs Five forward and two reverse primers were used to amplify the (R + H + Z + E + S). By using the primers and established PCR fragments that covered the entire gene. Amplicons were designed protocol, it was possible to successfully amplify the five fragments to overlap so they could subsequently be assembled with no loss of of the rpoB gene. The expected theoretical and observed weights of nucleotide sequence (Table 1 and Fig. 1). the products were similar (Fig. 1). Sequencing of these products The PCR reaction for each of the fragments was standardised produced fluorescence spectra with a signal of sufficient quality to and consisted of: 2.5 mL of Buffer DreamTaq 10X (Thermo allow identification of the nucleotides and the subsequent splicing Scientific) that included 20 mM MgCl2, 0.4 mL of dNTPMix, of fragments without loss of nucleotides. 10 mM (Thermo Scientific),10 pmol of forward and reverse primers (PF and PR), specific to each fragment, 1.25 U DreamTaq DNA 3.2. Mutations identified in rpoB polymerase (5 U/mL, Thermo Scientific), 1.7 uL of 7% DMSO (J.T. Baker) and 60 ng of DNA template, then topped up with nuclease- The characteristics and locations of the 36 non-synonymous free water to a final volume of 25 mL. Amplification of each polymorphisms found in the rpoB gene of the 20 analysed isolates TM fragment was performed in a T100 Thermal Cycler (Bio-Rad) are detailed in Table 2. To facilitate analysis, these mutations were under the same conditions: 95 C for 5 min, 30 cycles of 95 C for organised into three regions: pre-RRDR, within-RRDR, and post- 60 s, 60 C for 60 s, and 72 C for 4 min, with a final extension at RRDR. In the pre-RRDR region, two mutations were identified: 72 C for 3 min. V227G was observed in three resistant isolates, while the E411K Amplicons were electrophoretically analysed in 1.5% agarose mutation was observed in five rifampicin-sensitive and seven gel, and the DNA concentration determined by Mass Ruler low rifampicin-resistant isolates. In the within-RRDR region, nine range DNA Ladder (Thermo Scientific).