Characterization of Molecular Evolution in Multi-Drug Resistant of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by rpoB Gene in Patient with Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis from Iranian Isolates

This is the first genetic biodiversity study of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Iran. Thus, we investigated the genetic patterns of strains isolated in the first survey of anti-tuberculosis drug-resistance by rpoB gene as part of the Global Project of Anti-tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance (IAU, Iran). A 411-bp fragment of the rpoB gene, containing the sequence of the 81-bp rpoB fragment, was amplified by PCR and the rpoB gene fragments of tuberculosis strains were sequenced using the Amersham auto sequencer. For analysing tree evolution used method UPGMA and Neighbour-Joining. Clinical isolates (34/163) were analyzed by using sequencing gene rpoB and genotyped by program MEGA. The results were compared with the international database. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) was 14% in never treated patients and 8% in previously treated patients. Mutations in rpoB gene and katG genes were detected in 95% and 84% of the MDR strains, respectively. Two clusters were found to be identical by the four different analysis methods, presumably representing cases of recent transmission of MDR tuberculosis. The other strains are divided into 2 groups: group A - similar to the standard and Eastern strains (China, Taiwan) and group B - strains of another genotype. They are grouped separately on the dendrogram and became prevalent in Iran (they are called Iranian residential strains). This study gives a first overview of the M. tuberculosis strains circulating in Iran during the first survey of anti-tuberculosis drug-resistance. It may aid in the creation of a national database that will be a valuable support for further studies.