Phylogenomics of nontuberculous mycobacteria respiratory infections in people with cystic fibrosis.
Nicholas Bolden, Joshua Chang Mell, Jennifer Bouso Logan, Paul J Planet
Author Information
Nicholas Bolden: Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electronic address: ndbolden@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Joshua Chang Mell: Center for Genomic Sciences, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electronic address: jcm385@drexel.edu.
Jennifer Bouso Logan: Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Cystic Fibrosis Center, Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital, PA, United States. Electronic address: jennifer.logan@lvhn.org.
Paul J Planet: Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, United States. Electronic address: planetp@chop.edu.
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can cause severe pulmonary disease in people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). These infections present unique challenges for diagnosis and treatment, prompting a recent interest in understanding NTM transmission and pathogenesis during chronic infection. Major gaps remain in our knowledge regarding basic pathogenesis, immune evasion strategies, population dynamics, recombination potential, and the evolutionary implications of host and antibiotic pressures of long-term NTM infections in pwCF. Phylogenomic techniques have emerged as an important tool for tracking global patterns of transmission and are beginning to be used to ask fundamental biological questions about adaptation to the host during pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss the burden of NTM lung disease (NTM-LD), highlight the use of phylogenomics in NTM research, and address the clinical implications associated with these studies.
