02060nam a2200193   4500000000100000008004100001260002200042653001200064653003300076653001300109100001400122700001900136700001200155700001100167245002800178300001000206520162800216020002201844       2012                            d  bSpringer New York10aleprosy10aBiomedical and Life Sciences10aGenomics1 aNelson KE1 aJones-Nelson B1 aSingh P1 aCole S00aThe Genomics of Leprosy  a39-493 a   abstract = {Despite the steady decline in the global prevalence of leprosy, over 250,000 cases still appear every year, mostly in developing countries. Genomics showed that Mycobacterium leprae , the causative agent of the disease, represents an extreme case of reductive evolution since its 3.27-Mb chromosome has ∼1,300 pseudogenes. This formidable human pathogen cannot be cultured on artificial media, thus limiting our understanding of the disease pathogenesis, transmission, and control. There exists very little genetic variation among M. leprae strains, and the seven sequenced genomes exhibit over 99.995% identity, despite being from diverse geographic origins. The decrease in case numbers will negatively impact clinical expertise toward accurately diagnosing and treating leprosy, making it very important that efficient diagnostic and genotyping tools become available. The genomics of M. leprae has provided useful insights into its enigmatic biology and has helped develop promising immunological and nucleic-acid-based tools for more efficient and sensitive diagnosis. Comparative genomics of various M. leprae strains has been useful in developing robust and reliable molecular epidemiological tools to monitor the transmission dynamics of the disease, and efficient molecular drug susceptibility tests have been developed and implemented. In order to reduce the new case detection rate and disease transmission, further efforts are required to develop field-applicable, cost-effective tools which could diagnose all forms of leprosy at an early stage and be used in resource-limited settings.},
     a978-1-4614-2182-5