Non-tuberculous mycobacteria, also called NTM, are environmental organisms that are encountered in various clinical syndromes, including lung disease and surgical site infections. Epidemiologic studies suggest that the prevalence of these infections is rising, but there is considerable uncertainty regarding their best management. Given bacteriologic similarities and differences with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and paratuberculosis, our work aims to inform better management of infections by NTM.
Highlights of this work include:
- A phylogeny for the Mycobacterium avium organisms and the determination of their
genomic differences:
a. Turenne, J. Bact, 2008
b. Semret, J. Bact, 2004
c. Turenne, Clin Micro Reviews, 2007 - Absence of evidence for person-to-person transmission of Mycobacterium abscessus
a. Waglechner, Sci Reports, 2022
b. Olawoye, JID, 2025
c. Harrison & Behr, PNAS, 2023 - The importance of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of NTM
a. Veyrier, BMC Evol Biol, 2009
b. Veyrier & Behr, Trends in Microbiology, 2011
c. Wang, Frontiers Microbiol, 2014 - Mycobacterium kansasii as an out-group to study Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence determinants
a. Wang, Genome Biol Evolution, 2015
b. Buter, Nature Chem Biol, 2019
c. Ghanem, mBio, 2020 - Use of Mycobacterium abscessus to discover and characterize novel antimycobacterial agents
a. Sullivan, PLoS Pathogens, 2021
b. Sullivan, NPJ AMR, 2023
c. Fanti, ACS ID, 2022
Funding for our NTM work has come from the following sources of support:
Réseau en Santé Respiratoire du Québec, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Cystic Fibrosis Canada
