In a first for India, scientists have sequenced the complete genome of a microbe which is believed to be the forefather of the bug that causes tuberculosis and leprosy.

Besides extending the knowledge boundary, the breakthrough in the long run may lead to a treatment for Crohn’s Disease for which there is hardly any cure option at the moment.

In addition, development of diagnostics for opportunistic infections in HIV patients can well be another positive outcome. 

After sequencing an unknown but India’s very own mycobacterial organism called Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) over the last three years, the team said that it could be the earliest ancestor of all mycobacterial pathogens, which included common species like M tuberculosis and M leprae that causes TB and leprosy, respectively.

The sequencing was carried out by a consortium of scientists from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) and the University of Hyderabad both in Hyderabad and Delhi University, South Campus.

“The MIP genome is 1.5 times bigger than the TB bacterium’s genome. MIP does not cause any disease but actually aids in the treatment of leprosy and TB. We are now exploring its roles in Crohn’s Disease,” former CDFD director Dr Syed E Hasnain who led the consortium told Deccan Herald from Cambridge in the UK where he is visiting at the moment.

The MIP bacilli, also called as Mycobacterium W were first isolated in India by Dr G P Talwar at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, in the 1980s. It is currently used as an immuno-therapeutic against leprosy in India.

“It is the first bacterial sequencing in India, which reveals the evolutionary pathway of the species. The sequencing indicates that almost three million years ago, MIP branched into two main types, which in turn generated many other species,” says another scientist associated with the project.

The findings were published in the online edition of the journal Public Library of Sciences (PLoS) One on Tuesday.
While the department of biotechnology (DBT) is funding trials to find out the efficacy of using the MIP in TB treatment, it has already asked the University of Hyderabad and CDFD to explore MIP’s potential in treating Crohn’s Disease — a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.

The breakthrough may also help develop a better diagnostic tool for M avium, another member of the same family that causes opportunistic infections in HIV patients.