01673nas a2200313   4500000000100000008004100001260002700042653002500069653002400094653001100118653002200129653001200151653002500163100001200188700001300200700001800213700001300231700001300244700001200257700001400269700001300283700001900296700001100315245011600326856007900442300001400521520081000535022001401345       2015                            d  bNational Acad Sciences10aPathological aspects10aMycobacteria leprae10aMexico10aLucios Phenomenon10aleprosy10aComparative genomics1 aSingh P1 aBenjak A1 aSchuenemann V1 aHerbig A1 aAvanzi C1 aBusso P1 aNieselt K1 aKrause J1 aVera-Cabrera L1 aCole S00aInsight into the evolution and origin of leprosy bacilli from the genome sequence of Mycobacterium lepromatosis  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4394283/pdf/pnas.201421504.pdf  a2014215043 a<p>Leprosy was thought to be exclusively caused by infection of humans by <em>Mycobacterium leprae</em>. In 2008, Han et al. proposed that <em>Mycobacterium lepromatosis,</em> a separate unculturable species, might be responsible for a rare yet severe form of the disease called diffuse lepromatous leprosy. Here, by using comparative genomics, we show that the two species are very closely related and derived from a common ancestor that underwent genome downsizing and gene decay. Since their separation 13.9 Mya, the two species have continued to lose genes, but from different regions of the genome, and <em>M. leprae</em> appears to be more recent. In a phylogeographic survey, by using differential PCR, we found that <em>M. lepromatosis</em> was scarce and restricted to patients from Mexico.</p>
  a0027-8424