ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
This article is part of the Research TopicTuberculosis Transmission: A Battle Between the Host and the PathogenView all 3 articles
Geospatial Origins and Evolution of Drug-Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Lineages in Urumqi: Insights from Whole-Genome Sequencing
Provisionally accepted
- 1Urumqi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ürümqi, China
- 2People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Bainiaohu Hospital &The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi`an Jiaotong University Xinjiang Hospital, Urumqi, China
- 3State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, Department of Medical Engineering and Technology, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China
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Objective: This study aims to elucidate the distribution, origins, and evolutionary dynamics of drug-resistant MTB in Urumqi (a key Belt and Road Initiative hub), filling a critical knowledge gap in cross-regional MTB lineage transmission within this Eurasian transit node. Findings will inform local TB prevention strategies. Methods: WGS data from 219 Urumqi drug-resistant MTB isolates (National Drug Resistance Surveillance Database) and 738 Eurasian isolates were analyzed. Population structure, biogeographic informatics, field epidemiology was integrated for comprehensive analysis. Results: Of 219 Urumqi isolates, 165 (75.34%) belonged to L2 (all Beijing type), 23 (10.50%) to L3, and 31 (14.16%) to L4. The most probable geographic origins of the prevalent L2, L3, and L4 in Urumqi are central and eastern China, India, and Europe, respectively. Additionally, L4 exhibits a more distinct phylogeographic structure than L2 and L3. Notably, ~20% of drug-resistant cases involved migrants, partially driving cross-border transmission. Conclusion: Urumqi’s role as a key Eurasian transit hub underpins the complex origins and diverse evolution of drug-resistant MTB lineages, emphasizing the necessity for targeted cross-border TB control strategies to mitigate challenges posed by population mobility and lineage hybridization under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Keywords: DR-TB, phylogenetic analysis, Propagation path, transmission, whole genome sequencing
Received: 13 Nov 2025; Accepted: 20 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Jiandong, Liuming, Li, Na, Peisheng and Kai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wang Kai
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