Recombination in pe/ppe genes contributes to genetic variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages

• Autores: Adriana Alves, Amelia C. Crampin, Anabela Miranda, Arnab Pain, David Moore, Elizabeth M. Streicher, Erivelton de Oliveira Sousa, Francesc Coll, Indra Bergval, Isabel Portugal, Joao Perdigao, Jody E. Phelan, Judith R. Glynn, Keertan Dheda, Louis Grandjean, Martin L. Hibberd, Miguel Viveiros, Nicolaas C. Gey van Pittius, Patricia Sheen, Paul D. van Helden, Richard M. Anthony, Rob Warren, Rumina Hasan, Ruth McNerney, Samantha L. Sampson, Stefan Panaiotov, Susana Campino, Taane G. Clark, Theolis Barbosa Bessa, Zahra Hasan
• Ano de Publicação: 2016
• Journal: BMC Genomics
• Link: http://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-016-2467-y

Approximately 10 % of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome is made up of two families of genes that are poorly characterized due to their high GC content and highly repetitive nature. The PE and PPE families are typified by their highly conserved N-terminal domains that incorporate proline-glutamate (PE) and proline-proline-glutamate (PPE) signature motifs. They are hypothesised to be important virulence factors involved with host-pathogen interactions, but their high genetic variability and complexity of analysis means they are typically disregarded in genome studies.
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