Metabolomics profiling reveals changes in peptidoglycan and redox metabolism between ancient and modern Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the cause of tuberculosis, kills over one million people worldwide each year. Mtb is classified into ten distinct lineages, each harboring unique genetic changes that influence its survival, virulence, and transmissibility. Although metabolism plays a critical role in Mtb infection and persistence, the metabolomic profiles of different Mtb lineages remain poorly characterized. Here, by using metabolomic and bioinformatic approaches, we have determined the metabolome of representative strains belonging to three main lineages, namely lineage 1, lineage 2 and lineage 4. We show that the ancient lineage 1 has considerable differences in its metabolome compared to lineages 2 and 4. Those differences are mainly related to amino acids, peptidoglycan synthesis intermediates and ergothioneine, a sulphur-containing histidine derivative with potent antioxidant and redox properties. Taken together, these data represent the first comprehensive analysis of the metabolome of three main Mtb lineages.
Date Issued
2026-08-04
Date Acceptance
2026-04-07
Citation
Microbiology Spectrum, 2026, 14 (8), pp.1-15
ISSN
2165-0497
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Start Page
1
End Page
15
Journal / Book Title
Microbiology Spectrum
Volume
14
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
© 2026 Cheyne et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
License URL
Identifier
10.1128/spectrum.02887-25
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2026-06-29