Evolutionary robust SNPs reveal the misclassification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family strains into sublineages

Abstract

Genotypic classification in Mycobacterium tuberculosis has greatly contributed to the comprehension of phylogenetic and population genetic relationships. It is, therefore, necessary to verify the robustness of the genetic markers for phylogenetic classification. In this study, we report some examples of homoplasy for two molecular markers, the IS6110 insertion at the NTF region, and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at locus 909166, through genotyping of 1054 Beijing family strains. Our data revealed that a small fraction of strains traditionally classified into modern sublineages by IS6110 insertion at NTF actually belong to an ancient sublineage. We also proved that the robustness of branches in the evolutionary tree established using the putative homoplasious SNP 909166 is relatively low. Our findings highlight the importance of validating genetic markers used to establish phylogeny, evolution, and phenotypic characteristics.