Florence 2013 - European Society of Mycobacteriology
Transcription
Florence 2013 - European Society of Mycobacteriology
th 34 Annual Congress of the European Society of Mycobacteriology 30th June – 03rd July 2013 Florence, Italy Scientific Program including Abstracts 1 BD Envisions: A World Free of Tuberculosis For more than a century, BD has been dedicated to tackling some of the world’s toughest healthcare challenges. To make a lasting impact in addressing tuberculosis, BD is committed to increasing access to diagnostic technologies, strengthening healthcare systems, and investing in innovative new technologies. Today, BD impacts over 12 million TB patients annually by providing a WHO-recommended test – liquid culture – with the BD BACTEC™ MGIT™ Mycobacterial System. From specimen collection to data management and result reporting. BD Falcon™ Sputum Collection System BD BBL MycoPrep™ BD Stain Kits BD BACTEC™ MGIT™ System BD MGIT™ TBcID Identification Test BD, BD Logo and all other trademarks are property of Becton, Dickinson and Company. ©2013 BD. Becton Dickinson GmbH • General Manager: Roland Pfleger • Registered Office: Heidelberg • Commercial Register: Mannheim HRB 330 707 Impressum Publisher Agentur KONSENS GmbH Stockumer Straße 30 D-59368 Werne Phone: +49 23 89 / 52 75 0 Homepage: www.agentur-konsens.de Editor PD Dr. Stefan Niemann Research Center Borstel Parkallee 1-40 D-23845 Borstel Design & Layout Agentur KONSENS GmbH Print Lonnemann GmbH Ludgeristraße 13 D-59379 Selm ISBN: 978-3-00-042126-6 2 BD EpiCenter™ Data Management System BD Tullastraße 8-12 69126 Heidelberg www.bd.com/de CONTENT Welcome Message ................................................ 4 Congress Organization ........................................ 5 Sponsors / Exhibition ........................................... 6 Scientific Program ................................................ 8 Invitation 2014 ..................................................... 13 List of Lectures ................................................... 14 Lectures (L) ..................................................................... 14 Guest Lectures (GL) ....................................................... 14 Honoree Lecture ............................................................. 15 Gertrud Meissner Award ................................................ 15 List of Oral Presentations (OP) ......................... 16 List of Poster Presentations (P) ........................ 20 Abstracts of Lectures ......................................... 33 Lectures (L) ..................................................................... 33 Guest Lectures (GL) ....................................................... 35 Honoree Lecture ............................................................. 40 Gertrud Meissner Award ................................................ 40 Abstracts of Oral Presentations ........................ 41 Abstracts of Poster Presentations .................... 59 Author Index ..................................................... 118 3 Dear Colleagues, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Florence for the 34th annual meeting of the European Society of Mycobacteriology. We are honored to have participants coming from all over the world. We hope that all of you will appreciate not only the great hallmarks of renaissance butalsotheinformalandstimulatingscientificenvironmentthathasalways characterized the ESM meetings. Wewishyouafruitfulmeeting,excitingscientificexchangeandagreatmemory to bring back home. We are looking forward to meeting you in Florence. Daniela Maria Cirillo 4 Enrico Tortoli CONGRESS ORGANIZATION SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION Dr. Daniela Maria Cirillo (Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano) Dr. Enrico Tortoli (Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano) STEERING COMMITEE President Stefan Niemann (Borstel, Germany) Vice-president Gaby E. Pfyffer (Luzern, Switzerland) Treasurer Nalin Rastogi (Pointe-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France) Secretary Suzana David (Lisbon, Portugal) Members Daniela Maria Cirillo (Milano, Italy) Sven Hoffner (Solna, Sweden) Girts Skenders (Spotinu Novads, Latvia) LOCAL ORGANIZING AGENCY Agency KONSENS GmbH Germany LOCAL CO-ORGANIZING AGENCY The line Business Luisa Chiesa Italy 5 SPONSORS / ExHIBITION We express our gratitude to all who supported and helped the organization of the 34th edition of ESM congress: Platin Medal Sponsor Hain Lifescience GmbH www.hain-lifescience.com Booth number: 1 Gold Medal Sponsor BD Diagnostics – Diagnostic Systems www.bd.com Booth number: 2 Other Sponsors Cepheid Europe S.A. www.cepheid.com Booth number: 3 Salubris, Inc. www.salubrisinc.com Booth number: 4 Alpha-Tec Systems Inc. www.alphatecsystems.com Booth number: 5 Microsens Medtech Ltd. www.microsens.co.uk Booth number: 6 Bio-Rad Laboratories Ltd. www.bio-rad.com Booth number: 7 veredus Laboratories PTE Ltd. www.vereduslabs.com Booth number: 8 BioMérieux www.biomerieux.com Booth number: 9 Luminex B.v. www.luminexcorp.com Booth number: 10 Applied Maths Nv www.applied-maths.com Booth number: 11 Genoscreen www.genoscreen.com Booth number: 11 Alere Technologies GmbH www.alere-technologies.com 6 7 SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM Sunday, June 30, 2013 12:00-14:00 Registration at the Hotel Demidoff in Florence 14:00-16:00 Symposium: Genome based molecular epidemiology Lecture 1: Towards genomic epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Philip Supply Lecture 2: Dealing with uncertainties - interpreting genomic data for public health action, Timothy Walker Lecture 3: Advances in molecular typing of M. tuberculosis: should WGS become the gold standard?, Dick van Soolingen Lecture 4: Bench Top Next generation sequencing: Revolutionizing molecular epidemiology and diagnostics?, Stefan Niemann Round table discussion with experts 16:00-16:30 Coffee break in the foyer and visit of the exhibition 16:30-17:00 Symposium organized by HAIN 16:30-16:45 Molecular second-line drug testing - facts and needs Doris Hillemann 16:45-17:00 Optimizing the Use of TB Molecular Diagnostics in Zambia Barry Kosloff 17:00-17:20 Symposium organized by BD First TB quantitative second line drug susceptibility testing study using TB eXist : results and future developments Emmanuelle Cambau 17:20-18:00 Opening session Welcome Memorial M. Magnusson and A. Arne Malin Ridell 18:00-19:00 Honoree Lecture Tuberculosis: new drugs on the horizon Giovanna Riccardi (Italy) 19:00-19:30 Gertrud Meissner Award Lecture Causes and consequences of parallel evolution of tuberculosis and humans over 70.000 years Inaki Comas 19:30 Transfer to “Castello di Vincigliata” 20:00 Welcome Reception at “Castello di Vincigliata” 23:00 Bus departure from “Castello di Vincigliata” back to all hotels 8 Monday, July 01, 2013 09:00-10:30 M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS I Chairmen: Philip Supply, Dick van Soolingen 09:00-09:45 Guest Lecture 1: NEW INSIGHTS INTO PATHOGENOMICS OF THE TUBERCULOSIS AGENT Roland Brosch (France) 09:45-10:00 Identification of lineage-specific genetic markers from more than 1,500 MTBC isolates (OP 39) Francesc Coll, Kim Mallard, Mark D. Preston, Stephen Bentley, Julian Parkhill, Ruth McNerney, Nigel Martin, Taane G Clark 10:00-10:15 Comparative transcriptomic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a lipid environment (OP 157) Patricia Del Portillo, Maria Jesus Garcia, Jorge Gonzalez-y-Merchand, Maria Mercedes Zambrano, Juan Germán Rodríguez, Juan Manuel Anzola 10:15-10:30 Insights into the gene activity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis growing in a fatty-acid enriched medium (OP 53) Juan German Rodriguez, Adriana Carolina Hernandez, Jorge Gonzalez-y-Merchand, Addy Cecilia Helguera-Repetto, Jose Ricardo Bustos, Juan Manuel Anzola, Maria Mercedes Zambrano, Patricia del Portillo, Maria Jesus Garcia 10:30-11:00 Coffee break in the foyer and visit of the exhibition 11:00-12:15 M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS II Chairmen: Sebastien Gagneux, Patricia Del Portillo 11:00-11:15 Generation and characterization of a M. tuberculosis deletion mutant deficient in a putative subunit of a heterodimeric ABC multidrug transporter (OP 246) Sven Malm, Silvia Maaß, Stefan Ehlers, Stefan Niemann 11:15-11:30 Characterization of the small RNA expression profiles induced by antibiotics in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (OP 164) Paolo Miotto, Matthias Merker, Barbara Tizzano, Davide Cittaro, Dejan Lazarevic, Elia Stupka, Stefan Niemann, Daniela M. Cirillo 11:30-11:45 Understanding the biology of poly-rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (OP 23) Margaretha de Vos, Gail Erika Louw, Rob Warren, Thomas Victor, Paul van Helden 11:45-12:00 Whole genome sequencing from early culture or directly from clinical samples (OP 260) Mathilde Mairey, Bénédicte Condamine, Christine Hubans-Pierlot, Stéphanie Ferreira, Philip Supply, Caroline Allix-Béguec 12:00-12:15 Genome wide association analysis of tuberculosis resistance in dairy cattle (OP 245) Mairead Bermingham, Steve Bishop, John Woolliams, Adrian Allen, Stewart McBride, David Wright, Jon Ryder, Robin Skuce, Stanley McDowell, Liz Glass 12:15-13:15 Poster session 13:15-14:00 Lunch 14:00-15:30 MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS AND STRATEGY FOR CONTROL Chairmen: Nalin Rastogi , Kathleen Eisenach 14:00-14:45 Guest Lecture 2: MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS SPREADING IN EUROPEAN METROPOLITAN AREAS Andrea Gori (Italy) 9 14:45-15:00 Successful Russian clone of MYCOBACTERIUM tuberculosis: origin, emergence and current spread (OP 47) Igor Mokrousov 15:00-15:15 Large sequence polymorphism of Latin-American-Mediterranean (LAM) Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in Italy and molecular epidemiology of the LAM RDRio strains (OP73) Laura Rindi, Nicola Bimbi, Carlo Garzelli 15:15-15:30 Tracing MYCOBACTERIUM tuberculosis transmission: when resolution matters (OP 224) Thomas Kohl, Roland Diel, Stefan Niemann 15:30-16:00 Coffee break in the foyer and visit of the exhibition 16:00-17:00 NDWG SYMPOSIUM 16:00-16:25 Guest Lecture 3: Rapid whole genome sequencing as a tool to manage MDR/XDR-TB patients Philip Butcher (UK) 16:25-16:50 Guest Lecture 4: LESSONS ON DRUG RESISTANCE FROM WGS OF ONE THOUSAND CLINICAL ISOLATES Taane Clark (UK) 16:50-17:15 Guest Lecture 5: Low density microarrays as potential tools for the diagnosis of drug resistant tuberculosis Paolo Miotto (Italy) 17:15-19:15 Sight Seeing Tour Florence 20:00 Traditional Dinner at “Convitto della Calza” The tour guides will bring you directly from the city of Florence to the traditional restaurant “Convitto della Calza” 23:00 Bus Departure from “Convitto della Calza” back to all hotels Tuesday, July 02, 2013 09.00-10.45 MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST I Chairmen: Daniela Maria Cirillo, Sabine Ruesch-Gerdes 09:00-09:45 Guest Lecture 6: Molecular and quantitative approaches to DST – tools towards better guided TB therapy in the days of MDR and XDR Erik Christian Boettger. (Switzerland) 09:45-10:00 Detection of rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by padlock probes and a magnetic nanobead-based readout (OP 43) Anna Engström, Teresa Zardán Gómez De La Torre, Maria Strømme, Mats Nilsson, David Herthnek2 10:00-10:15 SPRINT: Spoligo-RifampICIn-Isoniazid Typing (OP 89) Michel Gomgnimbou, Ivan Hernández-Neuta, Stefan Panaiotov, Elizabeta Bachiyska, Juan Carlos Palomino, Anandi Martin, Patricia Del Portillo, Guislaine Refrégier, Christophe Sola 10:15-10:30 Development of an in vitro system to perform time-kill curves of levofloxacin against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (OP 154) Aline Barth, Robert May, Judith Johnson, Charles Peloquin, Hartmut Derendorf 10 10:30-10:45 Rapid testing for drug susceptibility (OP 212) Antonino Catanzaro, Timothy Rodwell, Camilla Rodrigues, Valeriu Crudu, Thomas Victor, Kanchan Ajbani, Elena Romancenco, Andre Trollip, Cindy Hayes, Roberta Lynn Jackson, Theodore Ganiats, Erik Groessl, Richard Garfein 10:45-11:15 Coffee break in the foyer and visit of the exhibition 11:15-13:00 MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST II Chairmen: Emmanuelle Cambau, Gabriela Pfyffer von Altishofen. 11:15-12:00 Guest Lecture 7: Challenges of pyrazinamide testing Sven Hoffner (Sweden) 12:00-12:15 Kanamycin, amikacin, capreomycin cross-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Romania (OP 229) Daniela Homorodean, Andrea Melinda Jodal, Sven Hoffner 12:15-12:30 Epidemiological trends in TB and M/XDRTB and progress on the implementation of the Consolidated Action Plan to Prevent and Combat M/XDR-TB in the WHO European region (OP 243) Kristin Kremer, Andrei Dadu, Martin van den Boom, Pierpaolo de Colombani, Masoud Dara 12:30-12:45 Emergence of XDR in high burden MDRTB country: a threat to public health and TB control Program (OP 244) Elena Romancenco, Valeriu Crudu, Ecaterina Noroc, Nadejda Turcanu, Liliana Domente, Sofia Alexandru 12:45-13:00 Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype strains are capable of resisting transient exposure to rifampicin, as studied in a novel microcolony approach (OP 96) Alice den Hertog, Sandra Menting, Dick van Soolingen, Richard Anthony 13:00-13:45 Lunch 13:45-14:45 Poster session 14:45-16:15 New therapeutic regimens for TB and MDR-TB Chairmen: Antonio Catanzaro, Vera Katalinic-Jankovic 14:45-15:30 Guest Lecture 8: New approaches to tuberculosis treatment Christian Lienhardt (Switzerland) 15:30-15:45 Anti-tuberculosis activity of efflux inhibitors against drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (OP 46) Diana Machado, Isabel Couto, Jorge Ramos, Miguel Viveiros 15:45-16:00 Oral phenylbutyrate and vitamin D3 induce the cathelicidin LL-37 in immune cells: A dose finding study for treatment of tuberculosis (OP 66) Rubhana Raqib, Akhirunnesa Mily, Rokeya Rekha, S.M.Mostafa Kamal, Protim Sarker, Zeaur Rahim, Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Birgitta Agerberth 16:00-16:15 Sterilizing activity of drug combinations against actively replicating and nonreplicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis (OP 225) Giovanni Piccaro, Federico Giannoni, Donatella Pietraforte, Alessandro Mustazzolu, Lanfranco Fattorini 16:15-16:45 Coffee break in the foyer and visit of the exhibition 16:45-18:15 TB BIOMARKERS AND NOVEL VACCINE STRATEGIES Chairmen: Maria Jesus Garcia, Stefan Niemann 11 16:45-17:30 Guest Lecture 9: Host-based biomarkers and different outcomes of MTB infection Gerhard Walzl (South Africa) 17:30-18:15 Guest Lecture 10: New TB vaccines, where we are and where we go Carlos Martin (Spain) 18:15-19:00 General Assembly 20:30 Tuscan Barbecue in the garden and restaurant in Hotel Demidoff Afterwards you are invited to the party in Hotel Demidoff. Wednesday, July 03, 2013 09:00-10:45 NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA Chairmen: Manuel J. Casal, Enrico Tortoli 9:00-09:45 Guest Lecture 11: New challenges for Buruli ulcer control Françoise Portaels (Belgium) 09:45-10:00 What is the role of horizontal gene transfer in mycobacterial drug resistance and virulence (OP 64) Sylvia Cardoso Leão, Katiane Santin, Christiane Lourenco Nogueira, Paulo Jose Martins Bispo, Cristianne Kayoko Matsumoto 10:00-10:15 Molecular characterization of Mycobacterium avium clinical strains from St. Petersburg, Russia (OP 75) Daria Starkova, Tatiana Otten, Igor Mokrousov, Anna Vyazovaya, Boris Vishnevskiy, Olga Narvskaya 10:15-10:30 Whole genome sequencing provides evidence for transmission of Mycobacterium abscessus between cystic fibrosis patients (OP 113) Josephine Bryant, Dorothy Grogono, Daniel Greaves, Juliet Foweraker, Iain Roddick, Thomas Inns, Mark Reacher, Charles S. Haworth, Martin D. Curran, Simon R. Harris, Sharon J. Peacock, Julian Parkhill, Andres Floto 10:30-10:45 Emergence of clinically relevant non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections in Saudi Arabia.( OP 159) Bright Varghese, Ziad Memish, Naela Abouljadayel, Raafat Al-Hakeem, Fahad Alrabiah, Sahal Al-Hajoj Al-Nakhli 10:45-11:15 Coffee break in the foyer and visit of the exhibition 11:15-12:30 IGRA AND LATENT TB Chairmen: Suzana David, Lanfranco Fattorini 11:15-12:00 Guest Lecture 12: Interferon Gamma Release Assays: advantages, limitations, new advances Delia Goletti (Italy) 12:00-12:15 Dormancy and resuscitation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (OP 185) Barbara Tizzano, Matthias Wilmanns, Stefan Niemann 12:15-12:30 Immunological features in children with tuberculosis (OP 234) Anna Starshinova, Natalia Korneva, Julia Ovchinnikova, Olga Yakunova, Elena Potapenko, Irina Dovgaluk 12:30-13:00 Poster Price Awards 13:00-13:15 Closing Remarks 12 INVITATION 2014 Dear Colleagues! The 35th Annual Congress of the European Society of Mycobacteriology (ESM) will take place from 29 June - 2 July 2014 in the city of vienna, Austria. While in the aftermath of World War I and the collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian-Empire, vienna was sadly acting as the capital of tuberculosis in Europe, today this booming city of 1.7 Million population is rightly proud of its high standards in „quality of Living“. The event will address the many challenges facing key areas in mycobacteriology and will also especially focus on Mycobacterium capraeandpublichealth.Thelecturesandseminarswillpromotescientific exchange and also provide a forum for professional discussion with colleagues and with the industry in a relaxed atmosphere. Planning is already underway and the website of the European Society of Mycobacteriology will be regularly updated with new information. We arelookingforwardtoyourscientificcontributionswithinterestandtowelcomingyouto another exciting and informative ESM annual meeting. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Franz allerberger Chair 13 LIST OF LECTURES Lecture 1 TOWARDS GENOMIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Philip Supply Lecture 2 DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTIES - INTERPRETING GENOMIC DATA FOR PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION Timothy Walker Lecture 3 Advances in molecular typing of M. tuberculosis: should WGS become the gold standard? Dick van Soolingen Lecture 4 Bench Top Next generation sequencing: Revolutionizing molecular epidemiology and diagnostics? Stefan Niemann LIST OF GUEST LECTURES Guest Lecture 1 NEW INSIGHTS INTO PATHOGENOMICS OF THE TUBERCULOSIS AGENT Roland Brosch Guest Lecture 2 Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis spreading in European metropolitan areas Andrea Gori Guest Lecture 3 Rapid whole genome sequencing as a tool to manage MDR/XDR-TB patients Philip Butcher Guest Lecture 4 LESSONS ON DRUG RESISTANCE FROM WGS OF ONE THOUSAND CLINICAL ISOLATES Taane Clark Guest Lecture 5 Low density microarrays as potential tools for the diagnosis of drug resistant tuberculosis Paolo Miotto Guest Lecture 6 Molecular and quantitative approaches to DST – tools towards better guided TB therapy in the days of MDR and XDR Erik Christian Boettger 14 Guest Lecture 7 Challenges of pyrazinamide testing Sven Hoffner Guest Lecture 8 New approaches to tuberculosis treatment Christian Lienhardt Guest Lecture 9 Host-based biomarkers and different outcomes of MTB infection Gerhard Walzl Guest Lecture 10 New TB vaccines, where we are and where we go Carlos Martin Guest Lecture 11 New challenges for Buruli ulcer control Françoise Portaels Guest Lecture 12 Interferon Gamma Release Assays: advantages, limitations, new advances Delia Goletti Honoree lecture TUBERCULOSIS: NEW DRUGS ON THE HORIZON Giovanna Riccardi Gertrud Meissner Award Lecture CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF PARALLEL EVOLUTION OF TUBERCULOSIS AND HUMANS OVER SEVENTY THOUSAND YEARS Iñaki Comas 15 LIST OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS (OP) M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS I OP 39 IDENTIFICATION OF LINEAGE-SPECIFIC GENETIC MARKERS FROM MORE THAN 1,500 MTBC ISOLATES Francesc Coll, Kim Mallard, Mark D. Preston, Stephen Bentley, Julian Parkhill, Ruth McNerney, Nigel Martin, Taane G Clark OP 157 COMPARATIVE TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSIS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN A LIPID ENVIRONMENT Patricia Del Portillo, Maria Jesus Garcia, Jorge Gonzalez-y-Merchand, Maria Mercedes Zambrano, Juan Germán Rodríguez, Juan Manuel Anzola OP 53 INSIGHTS INTO THE GENE ACTIVITY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS GROWING IN A FATTY-ACID ENRICHED MEDIUM Juan German Rodriguez, Adriana Carolina Hernandez, Jorge Gonzalez-y-Merchand, Addy Cecilia Helguera-Repetto, Jose Ricardo Bustos, Juan Manuel Anzola, Maria Mercedes Zambrano, Patricia del Portillo, Maria Jesus Garcia M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS II OP 246 GENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS DELETION MUTANT DEFICIENT IN A PUTATIVE SUBUNIT OF A HETERODIMERIC ABC MULTIDRUG TRANSPORTER Sven Malm, Silvia Maaß, Stefan Ehlers, Stefan Niemann OP 164 CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SMALL RNA ExPRESSION PROFILES INDUCED BY ANTIBIOTICS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Paolo Miotto, Matthias Merker, Barbara Tizzano, Davide Cittaro, Dejan Lazarevic, Elia Stupka, Stefan Niemann, Daniela Maria Cirillo OP 23 UNDERSTANDING THE BIOLOGY OF POLY-RIFAMPICIN RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Margaretha de vos, Gail Erika Louw, Rob Warren, Thomas victor, Paul van Helden 16 OP 260 WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING FROM EARLY CULTURE OR DIRECTLY FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES Mathilde Mairey, Bénédicte Condamine, Christine Hubans-Pierlot, Stéphanie Ferreira, Philip Supply, Caroline Allix-Béguec OP 245 GENOME WIDE ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS RESISTANCE IN DAIRY CATTLE Mairead Bermingham, Steve Bishop, John Woolliams, Adrian Allen, Stewart McBride, David Wright, Jon Ryder, Robin Skuce, Stanley McDowell, Liz Glass MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS AND STRATEGY FOR CONTROL OP 47 SUCCESSFUL RUSSIAN CLONE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS: ORIGIN, EMERGENCE AND CURRENT SPREAD Igor Mokrousov OP 73 LARGE SEqUENCE POLYMORPHISMS OF LATIN AMERICAN-MEDITERRANEAN (LAM) MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS STRAINS ISOLATED IN ITALY AND MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF THE LAM RDRIO STRAINS Laura Rindi, Nicola Bimbi, Carlo Garzelli OP 224 TRACING MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS TRANSMISSION: WHEN RESOLUTION MATTERS Thomas Kohl, Roland Diel, Stefan Niemann MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST I OP 43 DETECTION OF RIFAMPICIN RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BY PADLOCK PROBES AND A MAGNETIC NANOBEAD-BASED READOUT Anna Engström, Teresa Zardán Gómez De La Torre, Maria Strømme, Mats Nilsson, David Herthnek OP 89 SPRINT: SPOLIGO-RIFAMPICIN-ISONIAZID TYPING Michel Gomgnimbou, Ivan Hernández-Neuta, Stefan Panaiotov, Elizabeta Bachiyska, Palomino Juan Carlos, Anandi Martin, Patricia Del Portillo, Guislaine Refrégier, Christophe Sola 17 OP 154 DEVELOPMENT OF AN In vITRO SYSTEM TO PERFORM TIME-KILL CURVES OF LEVOFLOxACIN AGAINST MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Aline Barth, Robert May, Judith Johnson, Charles Peloquin, Hartmut Derendorf OP 212 RAPID TESTING FOR DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY Antonino Catanzaro, Timothy Rodwell, Camilla Rodrigues, valeriu Crudu, Thomas victor, Kanchan Ajbani, Elena Romancenco, Andre Trollip, Cindy Hayes, Roberta Lynn Jackson, Theodore Ganiats, Erik Groessl, Richard Garfein MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST II OP 229 KANAMYCIN, AMIKACIN, CAPREOMYCIN CROSS RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS ISOLATES FROM ROMANIA Daniela Homorodean, Jodal Andrea Melinda, Sven Hoffner OP 243 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRENDS IN TB AND M/xDR-TB AND PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONSOLIDATED ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT AND COMBAT M/xDR-TB IN THE WHO EUROPEAN REGION Kristin Kremer, Andrei Dadu, Martin van den Boom, Pierpaolo de Colombani, Masoud Dara OP 244 EMERGENCE OF xDR IN HIGH BURDEN MDRTB COUNTRY: A THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND TB CONTROL PROGRAM Elena Romancenco, valeriu Crudu, Ecaterina Noroc, Nadejda Turcanu, Liliana Domente, SofiaAlexandru OP 96 MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BEIJING GENOTYPE STRAINS ARE CAPABLE OF RESISTING TRANSIENT ExPOSURE TO RIFAMPICIN, AS STUDIED IN A NOVEL MICROCOLONY APPROACH Alice den Hertog, Sandra Menting, Dick van Soolingen, Richard Anthony NEW THERAPEUTIC REGIMENS FOR TB AND MDR-TB OP 46 ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS ACTIVITY OF EFFLUx INHIBITORS AGAINST DRUG RESISTANT MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Diana Machado, Isabel Couto, Jorge Ramos, Miguel viveiros OP 66 ORAL PHENYLBUTYRATE AND VITAMIN D3 INDUCE THE CATHELICIDIN LL-37 IN IMMUNE CELLS: A DOSE FINDING STUDY FOR TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS Rubhana Raqib, Akhirunnesa Mily, Rokeya Rekha, S.M. Mostafa Kamal, Protim Sarker, Zeaur Rahim, Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Birgitta Agerberth 18 OP 225 STERILIZING ACTIVITY OF DRUG COMBINATIONS AGAINST ACTIVELY REPLICATING AND NONREPLICATING MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Giovanni Piccaro, Federico Giannoni, Donatella Pietraforte, Alessandro Mustazzolu, Lanfranco Fattorini NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA OP 64 WHAT IS THE ROLE OF HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER IN MYCOBACTERIAL DRUG RESISTANCE AND VIRULENCE? Sylvia Cardoso Leão, Katiane Santin, Christiane Lourenco Nogueira, Paulo Jose Martins Bispo, Cristianne Kayoko Matsumoto OP 75 MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM CLINICAL STRAINS FROM ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Daria Starkova, Tatiana Otten, Igor Mokrousov, Anna vyazovaya, Boris vishnevskiy, Olga Narvskaya OP 113 WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING PROVIDES EVIDENCE FOR TRANSMISSION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM aBSCESSUS BETWEEN CYSTIC FIBROSIS PATIENTS Josephine M. Bryant, Dorothy M. Grogono, Daniel Greaves, Juliet Foweraker, Iain Roddick, Thomas Inns, Mark Reacher, Charles S. Haworth, Martin D. Curran, Simon R. Harris, Sharon J. Peacock, Julian Parkhill, R. Andres Floto OP 159 EMERGENCE OF CLINICALLY RELEVANT NON-TUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA Bright varghese, Ziad Memish, Naela Abouljadayel, Raafat Al-Hakeem, Fahad Alrabiah, Sahal Al-Hajoj Al-Nakhli IGRA AND LATENT TB OP 185 DORMANCY AND RESUSCITATION IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Barbara Tizzano, Matthias Wilmanns, Stefan Niemann OP 234 IMMUNOLOGICAL FEATURES IN CHILDREN WITH TUBERCULOSIS Anna Starshinova, Natalia Korneva, Julia Ovchinnikova, Olga yakunova, Elena Potapenko, Irina Dovgaluk 19 LIST OF POSTER PRESENTATIONS (P) M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS P 24 FITNESS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS WITH MUTATIONS IN THE RPSL, RRS, GIDB AND RPOB GENES Fernanda Spies, Andrea von Groll, Andrezza Ribeiro, Daniela Ramos, Marta Ribeiro, Anandi Martin, Juan Carlos Palomino, Maria Lucia Rossetti, Pedro Almeida da Silva, Arnaldo Zaha P 42 DECIPHERING THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE M. TUBERCULOSIS LATIN AMERICAN-MEDITERRANEAN (LAM) GENOTYPE Anzaan Dippenaar, Rob Warren, Nico Gey van Pittius P 44 CHARACTERIZATION OF ExTENSIVELY DRUG-RESISTANT MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN SIBERIA Maya Dymova, Olga Alkhovik, Andrey Cherednichenko, Tatyana Petrenko, Maxim Filipenko P 90 LABEL-FREE AND MULTIPLExED ELECTROCHEMICAL DETECTION OF PCR FRAGMENTS ON SCREEN-PRINTED ELECTRODE ARRAYS. APPLICATION TO SPOLIGOTYPING OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS viet Hai Le, Steeve Reisberg, Michel Gomgnimbou, Christophe Sola, Minh Chau PHAM, Benoit Piro P 94 MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx SUBSPECIES IN PROVINCE OF MODENA, ITALY Giulia Fregni Serpini, Sara Tagliazucchi, Giulia Forbicini, Nadia Nanni, Rita Magnani, Anna Fabio, William Gennari, Anna Maria Teresa Sabbatini, Antonella Grottola, Monica Pecorari P 108 UNUSUAL LARGE-SCALE CHROMOSOMAL REARRANGEMENTS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BEIJING B0/W148 CLUSTER ISOLATES Egor Shitikov, J Bespyatykh, D Ischenko, I Karpova, E Kostryukova, y Isaeva, E Nosova, A vyazovaya, I Mokrousov, O Narvskaya, B vishnevsky, T Otten, v Zhuravlev, P yablonsky, E Ilina, v Govorun P 123 DETECTION OF MUTATIONS BEYOND THE ‘HOT-SPOT’ REGIONS OF FIRST- AND SECOND-LINE DRUG RESISTANCE GENES IN ExTENSIVELY DRUG-RESISTANT MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS ISOLATES USING WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING Asho Ali, Zahra Hasan, Taane Clark, Ruth McNerney, Kim Mallard, Mridul Nair, Arnab Pain, Rumina Hasan 20 P 248 COMPARISON OF TWO COMMERCIAL MOLECULAR ASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OF TUBERCLE BACILLI IN PARAFFIN-EMBEDDED TISSUES Nataša Fajfar, Manca Zolnir Dovc MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS AND STRATEGY FOR CONTROL P5 PREVALENCE OF HAARLEM FAMILY IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN WORLD POPULATION: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS Rashid Ramazanzadeh, Daem Roshani P 26 GENOTYPING OF MyCOBaCTERIUM BOvIS FROM FARMED ELK IN KOREA BY SPOLIGOTYPING AND VARIABLE NUMBER TANDEM REPEAT ANALYSIS Jae Myung Kim, yun-Ho Jang, yoonra Jang, Soyoon Ryoo, Narae Kim, Jae Min Jang, ShinSeok Kang, Hyun Sub Byun, Suk Chan Jung P 48 MOLECULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BEIJING GENOTYPE ISOLATES FROM RUSSIA Anna vyazovaya, Igor Mokrousov, Natalia Solovieva, Tatiana Otten, Boris vishnevskiy, Olga Narvskaya P 61 MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION IN CATTLE IN CROATIA - CASE REPORTS Silvio Spicic, vera Katalinic-Jankovic, Ivana Racic, Maja Zdelar-Tuk, Sanja Duvnjak, Zeljko Cvetnic P 67 TRANSMISSION OF M. BOvIS INFECTION AMONG WILD ANIMALS Marek Lipiec, Monika Krajewska P 71 THE USEFULNESS OF ELISA TEST FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS IN POLISH CONDITIONS Marek Lipiec, Monika Krajewska P 76 MIRU-VNTR TYPING REVEALS HIGH HETEROGENEITY IN A SUPPOSEDLY CLONAL GROUP OF MyCOBaCTERIUM BOvIS Sabrina Rodriguez-Campos, yurena Navarro, Beatriz Romero, Javier Bezos, Lucía de Juan, Carmen Casal Comendador, Lucas Domínguez, Alexandra Gutiérrez, Darío García de viedma, Alicia Aranaz 21 P 77 Evaluation of COBAS® TaqMan MTB for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in comparison with the COBAS® Amplicor MTB Claudia Ritter, Guido Bloemberg, Antje Voit, Vanessa Deggim, Erik Böttger P 79 A putative compensatory mutation in the rpoC-gene exclusively detected in isolates of the Resistant European Tuberculosis (RET) cluster with a MDR-TB phenotype Jessica De Beer, Indra Bergval, Anja Schuitema, Richard Anthony, Maryse Fauville, Beatriz Ferro, Viviana Ritacco, Aldert Zomer, Jakko van Ingen, Dick van Soolingen P 87 Current status of bovine tuberculosis in Poland - 3 years after the recognition of the country free of the disease Marek Lipiec, Monika Krajewska P 106 TRAINING IN BIOSAFETY AGAINST M. TUBERCULOSIS: EXPERIENCE IN THE MYCOBACTERIA REFERENCE CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA, SPAIN Vaquero-Alvarez Esther, Pablo López-Roldan, Emilio J Aguilar, Fernando Palomares, Francisco Torralbo, Manuel Vaquero, Manuel J Casal P 110 A novel model to control for patient risk factors in measuring the transmissibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and lineages Hanna Nebenzahl-Guimaraes, Martien Borgdorff, Jessica de Beer, Megan Murray, Dick van Soolingen P 125 Epidemiological analyses of tuberculosis in Archangelsk, Russia and implementation of a rapid assay for detection of resistance in this high burden setting Platon Eliseev, Andrey Maryandyshev, Elena Nikishova, Irina Tarasova, Galina Gorina, Erja Chryssanthou, Lars-Olof Larsson, Malin Ridell P 139 Accurate and efficient identification of drug resistance and local MDR cluster strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using an adapted SNPbased multiplex LPA assay Sarah Sengstake, Indra Bergval, Anja Schuitema, Kiki Tuin, Edgar Abadia, Jessica De Beer, Nino Bablishvili, Nino Bzekalava, Nadia Brankova, Viktoria Levterova, Rusudan Aspindzelashvili, Christophe Sola, Stefan Panaiotov, Dick van Soolingen, Richard Anthony P 149 Genotypic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in conjunction with demographic and epidemiologic data underlines major differences between French versus Foreign-born cases in the Rhône-Alpes region, France (2000-2010) Catherine Pichat , David Couvin, Gérard Carret, Véronique Jacomo, Anne Carricajo, Sandrine Boisset, Jean-Pierre Flandrois, Gérard Lina, Nalin Rastogi 22 P 152 Molecular analysis of Mycobacterium bovis isolates from humans in Italy: comparison with the genotype database of animal strains Maria Pacciarini, Maria Goria, Giuseppina Ferraro, Silvia Tagliabue, Ester Mazzola, Maria Tullia Simonetti, Paola Dal Monte, Piera Mazzone, Maria Beatrice Boniotti P 153 Changes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure in the French Departments of the Americas: a 17 years overview Julie Millet, Elisabeth Streit, Anne Gaël Bomer, Franzisca Schuster, Nalin Rastogi P 171 Populational-based survey of molecular and epidemiological links between human and animal infections by Mycobacterium bovis Beatriz Romero, Juan José Palacios, Yurena Navarro, María Francisca Copano, Lucía de Juan, Julio Alvarez, Tatiana Alende, Lucas Domínguez, Darío García de Viedma P 175 Retrospective analysis for diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Huseyin Guducuoglu, Abdullah Bektas P 176 European Union Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis: an useful tool towards harmonization of protocols Beatriz Romero, Javier Bezos, Carmen Casal Comendador, Julio Alvarez, Francisco Lozano, Nuria Moya, Lucía de Juan P 197 Rapid diagnosis, molecular typing patterns and drug susceptibility profiles of mycobacteria isolated from patients with tuberculous meningitis in Ankara GÜLNUR TARHAN, Hülya Şimşek, Salih CESUR, Ismail CEYHAN P 198 Population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in two geographically distant areas of Argentina Johana Monteserin, Ana Etchart, Ana Reniero, Beatriz López, Viviana Ritacco P 214 Performance of Spoligotyping in extrapulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis in patients attending a tertiary care hospital Wellman Ribon, Magda Lorena Orduz Zambrano P 219 GENETIC DIVERSITY OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEX STRAINS ISOLATED IN THE NORTH-WESTERN AND CENTRAL COUNTIES OF ROMANIA IONELA SORINA MUNTEAN, Adriana Drăgan, Daniela Homorodean, ANDREEA JODAL, Sven Hoffner 23 P 220 Molecular genotyping confirms tuberculosis infection transmission in household contacts as the main infection transmission route among children Viesturs Baumanis, Iveta Ozere, Inta Jansone, Anda Nodieva, Ilva Pole, Matiss Bauskenieks, Girts Skenders P 227 Whole Genome Sequencing Reveals Local Transmission Patterns of Mycobacterium bovis in Sympatric Cattle and Badger Populations Roman Biek, Anthony O‘Hare, David Wright, Tom Mallon, Carl McCormick, Richard Orton, Stanley McDowell, Hannah Trewby, Robin Skuce, Rowland Kao P 230 Multidrug resistant tuberculosis epidemic in Swaziland: ongoing transmission of multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains M. Merker, E. Sanchez, P. Beckert, F. Jochims, M. Bonnet, Th. Dlamini, M. Bastard, H. Koarakozian, S. Rüsch-Gerdes, S. Niemann P 231 TB-miner, an on-line tool to describe classification of M. tuberculosis complex based on the wide scale diversity of the Netherlands database Jérôme Azé, Guislaine Refrégier, Kristin Kremer, Dick van Soolingen, Christophe Sola P 241 Distribution and Spatial Analysis of Foci of Tuberculosis in Cattle and Deers in the South of Beira Interior (Portugal) Luis Caiola Ribeiro, Paulo Fernandez, Manuel Martins P 242 Tuberculosis in the Czech Republic at risk groups: Casuistry from the current time Maria Müllerová, M. VašákováE. Kopecká, J. Homolka, J. Pohl, K. Křepela P 250 Correlation between streptomycin intermediate-level resistance and gidB mutation in an endemic multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cluster Joao Perdigao, Rita Macedo, Diana Machado, Carla Silva, Luisa Jordao, Isabel Couto, Miguel Viveiros, Isabel Portugal P 257 Danish Mycobacterium tuberculosis outbreak strain is spreading among Greenlandic Inuit in Denmark and Greenland Troels Lillebaek, Ase Bengard Andersen, Erik M. Rasmussen, Zaza Kamper-Jørgensen, Matthias K. Pedersen, Karen Bjoern-Mortensen, Karin Ladefoged, Vibeke Ø. Thomsen P 258 Active transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt) continues at surprisingly high rates in Denmark Troels Lillebaek, Åse Bengård Andersen, Niels Jørgen Seersholm, Vibeke Østergaard Thomsen 24 MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST P 15 RESISTANCE PATTERNS TO SECOND-LINE DRUGS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN SPAIN Pilar Ruiz, Juan B Gutierrez, Manuel Causse, Manuel J Casal P 27 EVALUATION THE BACT ALERT 3D SYSTEM FOR RECOVERY AND IDENTIFICATION OF MYCOBACTERIA FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES María Rosarys Martínez Romero, Misleidis Sardiña, Grechen García, Lilian María Mederos P 28 DETECTION OF AMIKACIN RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS USING THE NITRATE REDUCTASE ASSAY AND THE RESAZURIN MICROTITRE ASSAY Dihadenys Lemus, Carlos Washington Reyes, Miguel Echemendia, Juan Carlos Palomino, Anandi Martin P 37 GENOMIC MUTATION PROFILING OF MULTIDRUG RESISTANCE TUBERCULOSIS ISOLATES USING BY NOVEL GENOTYPE® MTBDRPLUS ASSAY Anand Kumar Maurya, Surya Kant, Amresh Kumar Singh, Ram Awadh Singh Kushwaha, Manoj Kumar, vijaya Lakshmi Nag, Tapan N Dhole P 69 FIELD EVALUATION OF THE DIRECT COLORIMETRIC NITRATE REDUCTASE ASSAY FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS DETECTION OF MDR- AND xDR-TB IN ARGENTINA Belen Imperiale, Nora Morcillo, Juan Carlos Palomino, Anandi Martin P 80 EVALUATION OF THE AID TB RESISTANCE LINE PROBE ASSAY FOR RAPID DETECTION OF GENETIC ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS DRUG RESISTANCE Claudia Ritter, Katja Lucke, Frick Sirgel, Robin Warren, Erik Böttger, Guido Bloemberg P 85 A NEW COLORIMETRIC PLATE FOR THE RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF ExTENSIVELY DRUGRESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS DIRECTLY IN SPUTUM SAMPLES Beatriz Lopez, Lucia Barrera, Martha Ambroggi, Susana Poggi, Peter vandamme, Juan Carlos Palomino, viviana Ritacco, Anandi Martin P 95 RPOB POLYMORPHISMS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx FROM A POPULATION IN GUINEA-BISSAU AF Sutre, A Sanca, A Mané, v Henriques, C Portugal, Luisa Sancho, A Cardoso, E Paixão, CqF Leite, JI Salem, A Antunes, EL Duarte, S David 25 P 121 EXPAND-TB: Experience of establishing TB laboratories in limited resources settings in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Alexei Korobitsyn; K. Kao, C.N. Paramasivan, D. Orozco P 131 Comparative Evaluation of TK SLC-L, the Rapid Liquid Mycobacterial Culture Medium, with BACTEC MGIT İhsan Hakkı Çiftçi, Engin Karakeçe P 138 Development of a new DNA microarray platform for the detection of MDR tuberculosis Andrea M. Cabibbe, Klaus Reither, Daniela M. Cirillo P 140 Evaluation of phenotypic and genotypic drug susceptibility testing methods for fluoroquinolone resistance in M. tuberculosis Nele Coeck, Bouke de Jong, Leen Rigouts P 141 TB PAN NET consortium: shared databases for the characterization of mutations involved in drug-resistant M. tuberculosis phenotype Andrea M. Cabibbe, Paolo Miotto, Emanuele Borroni, Ilaria C. Valente, Silke Feuerriegel, Petras Stakenas, Ewa Augustynowicz-Kopeć, Vanessa Mathys, Sven Hoffner, Stefan Niemann, Daniela M. Cirillo P 142 Dynamic microcolony growth monitoring for drug susceptibility testing of ethambutol and pyrazinamide Alice den Hertog, Sandra Menting, Ernst Smienk, Sarah Sengstake, Sven Hoffner, Richard Anthony P 144 pncA gene mutations and pyrazinamide resistance in Swedish multidrugresistant tuberculosis 2003-2013 Mikael Mansjö, Jim Werngren, Sven Hoffner, Ylva Lidén P 160 The Influence of Glutoxim on the Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) Strains to Isoniazid Olga Manicheva, Natalya Solovyeva, Viacheslav Zhuravlev, Victor Antonov, Dmitriy Aizikov, Marina Shulgina P 173 Genetic characterization of pyrazinamide-resistant M. tuberculosis complex isolates in an Italian north-eastern area during a four year period Marta Peracchi, Loredana Fallico, Marta Viero, Mario Rassu, Michela Pascarella, Riccardo Manganelli, Giorgio Palù 26 P 174 INTEGRATING THE XPERT MTB/RIF ASSAY IN A DIAGNOSTIC WORK FLOW FOR RAPID DETECTION OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN A LOW PREVALENCE AREA Akos Somoskovi, Claudia Ritter, Vanessa Deggim, Antje Voit, Eric C. Böttger, Guido V. Bloemberg P 179 The Efficiency of a New Decontamination and Concentration Kit which Eliminates Centrifugation, in Isolation of Mycobacteria from Sputum Samples İhsan Hakkı Çiftçi, Engin Karakeçe P 180 Rapid diagnosis of multi- and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis among patients with high risk of TB resistance Valeriu Crudu, Elena Romancenco, Ecaterina Noroc, Nadejda Turcan, Galina Blagoadeteleva P 181 Evaluation of second-line antituberculosis drugs susceptibility testing of multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using Etest Hulya Simsek, Gülnur Tarhan, Salih Cesur P 182 Evaluation of the presence of mycobacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in animal tissues by real-time PCR Pedro Costa, Ana Ferreira, Ana Amaro, Isabel Couto, Miguel Viveiros, João Inácio P 193 Evaluation of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay for the diagnosis of tuberculosis Ali Albay, Ozgul Kisa, Mustafa Guney, Gokselin Dogan, Kemal Tekin P 199 Rapid detection of M.tuberculosis drug resistance to second line antibiotics in sputum samples by using the multi-competitive allelespecific real-time PCR Yulia Alyapkina, Michail Vladimyrsky, Marina Lapenkova, Dmitry Varlamov P 204 Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis using GenoType MTBDR Assay in HIVinfected Patients, Tg.-Mures, Romania Lilla Lőrinczi, Maria Nemes, Zaharia Kézdi Erzsébet Iringó, Mihaela Patraulea, Székely Edit, Vas Krisztina Eszter, Lőrinczi Zoltán P 232 The possibility of early correction of chemotherapy for pulmonary tuberculosis on the basis of molecular genetic methods Mariya Pavlova, Viatcheslav Zhuravlev, Ludmila Archakova, Nadezhda Sapozhnikova, Natalya Solovyeva, Anna Starshinova 27 P 253 THE CORRELATION BETWEEN PHENOTYPIC AND GENETIC RESISTANCE TO ETHAMBUTOL IN PATIENTS FROM MOSCOW REGION Ruslan Ludannyy, Maria Alvarez Figueroa, Anastasiya Prokopenko P 256 MDR TB WITH MIxED STRAINS: A CHALLENGE IN DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT OF PATIENTS valeriu Crudu,ElenaRomancenco,EcaterinaNoroc,NadejdaTurcan,LilianaDomente,Sofia Alexandru, Dumitru Chesov, Stefan Niemann, Matthias Merker, Sabine Rüsch-Gerdes, Antonino Catanzaro P 259 ExTERNAL qUALITY CONTROL FOR DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING IN ROMANIAN TUBERCULOSIS LABORATORY NETWORK Daniela Homorodean, Andreea Melinda Jodal P 262 LATE-PCR DETECTION OF M(x)DR-TB USING FLUORESCENT SIGNATURES L. Rice, J.Rice, L. Wangh; N. Kurpina, B. Kreiswirth, N. Casali, F. Drobniewski; M. De vos, R. Warren NEW THERAPEUTIC REGIMENS FOR TB AND MDR-TB P 161 EFFICIENCY OF CHEMOTHERAPY OF xDR TB PATIENTS WITH LINEZOLIDE Anastasia Samoilova, Irina vasilyeva, Tatev Bagdasarian, Marina Burakova, Svetlana Moiseyeva TB BIOMARKERS AND NOVEL VACCINE STRATEGIES P 21 DRUG TOLERANCE TO ETHAMBUTOL OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS CELL WALL DEFICIENT L-FORMS Georgi Slavchev, Nadya Markova P 86 MALARIA, TUBERCULOSIS, HIV and HBV COINFECTIONS IN A RURAL POPULATION IN THE SOUTH OF GHANA Natalia Julca, Alejandra Martinez-Serna, Maria Carmen Menendez, Carolina Garrido, Patricia Marin-Garcia, Antonio Puyet, Jose Manuel Bautista, Carmen De Mendoza, Maria Jesus Garcia, Amalia Diez P 205 CIRCULATING MIRNA SIGNATURES IN TUBERCULOSIS Paolo Miotto, Grace Mwangoka, Ilaria C. valente, Luca Norbis, Giovanni Sotgiu, Alessandro Ambrosi, Luigi Codecasa, Delia Goletti, Alberto Matteelli, Klaus Reither, Daniela M. Cirillo 28 P 207 IDENTIFICATION OF ROUTINE CLINICAL MYCOBACTERIA ISOLATES WITH MALDI-TOF MS USING THE NEW BRUKER MYCOBACTERIA LIBRARY Gorkem yaman, Cigdem Celikkan, Derya Turk P 222 EVALUATION OF FLUOROTYPE MTB FOR DIRECT DETECTION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx AND GENOTYPE MTBDRPLUS FOR DETERMINING OF RIFAMPICIN AND ISONIAZID RESISTANCE Gonca Erkose Genc, Dilek Satana, Esra yildrim, Zayre Erturan, yildiz yegenoglu, Meltem uzun NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA P 18 IN MExICAN MESTIZOS THE HLA-DRB1*01 ALLELE CONFERS GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TO LEPROMATOUS LEPROSY (LL) Monica Escamilla-Tilch, Iris Estrada-García, Nora M Torres-Carrillo, Rosalío Ramos-Payán, M. Isabel Salazar, Mary Fafutis, Roberto Arenas-Guzmán, Sergio Estrada Parra, Julio Granados P 41 MYCOBACTERIA IDENTIFICATION FROM PATIENTS WITH RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS ADMITTED IN PEDRO KOURÍ INSTITUTE, HAVANA, CUBA María Rosarys Martínez Romero, Misleidis Sardiña, Grechen García, Lilian María Mederos, yoandra Abad P 51 A CASE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TERRaE INFECTION IN CATTLE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Hajrudin Besirovic, Amer Alic, Silvio Spicic, Zeljko Cvetnic, Senad Prasovic P 58 COMPARATIVE In vITRO ACTIVITIES OF RIFAMPIN, RIFAPENTINE AND RIFABUTIN AGAINST MyCOBaCTERIUM KanSaSII Michael Cynamon, Mary Sklaneyvamc P 82 MyCOBaCTERIUM BRUMaE TRIGGERS CELL-CYCLE ARREST IN BLADDER CANCER CELLS Silvia Secanella-Fandos, Gemma Orpella-Aceret, Eduard Torrents, Alejandro Sánchez-Chardi, Julia Lorenzo, Manuela Costa, Marina Luquin, Esther Julián P 83 IN-DEPTH SURVEY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSP. paRaTUBERCULOSIS (MAP) GENOTYPES IN GERMANY Petra Möbius, Isabel Fritsch, Heike Köhler 29 P 84 Stability of genotyping targets in Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) upon cultivation on different media, in vitro and in vivo passage, and natural infection Nadine Kasnitz, Heike Köhler, Petra Möbius P 122 Prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium subspecies hominissusis in biogas plants in the Czech Republic Monika Moravkova, Radka Pribylova, Iva Slana P 129 Molecular analysis of human isolates belonging to Mycobacterium avium complex collected during the years 2005-2010 in the Czech Republic Michal Slany, Vit Ulman, Eva Kalakayova, Iva Slana P 130 Soil and plant contamination with M. a. paratuberculosis from tissues of infected animals Marija Kaevska, Samuel Lvoncik, Jiri Lamka, Iva Slana, Ivo Pavlik P 134 Monitoring of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis survival in fermented milk products by means of culture and quantitative real time PCR methods Barbora Klanicova, Iva Slana, Petr Roubal, Petr Kralik P 145 Molecular analysis of Mycobacterium chelonae-M. abscessus group isolates without conclusive species identification Christiane Lourenco Nogueira, Cristianne Kayoko Matsumoto, Luciano Antonio Digiampietri, João Carlos Setubal, Sylvia Cardoso Leão P 150 Critical role of Toll-like Receptor 2 in Mycobacterium brumae-induced antitumor activity Silvia Secanella-Fandos, Carmen Fernández, Esther Julián P 165 MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS IN WILDLIFE: FIRST REVIEW FOR SLOVENIA Mateja Pate, Urska Zajc, Darja Kusar, Diana Zele, Gorazd Vengust, Tina Pirs, Matjaz Ocepek P 166 GenoType assay coupled with 16S rRNA and rpoB sequencing: a good approach towards improved identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria in a veterinary laboratory? Mateja Pate, Darja Kusar, Urska Zajc, James Higgins, Patrick Camp, David Farrell, Doris Bravo, Tod Stuber, Matjaz Ocepek 30 P 167 Non-pathogenic mycobacterium for the treatment of non-invasive bladder cancer Silvia Secanella-Fandos, Estela Noguera-Ortega, Hasier Eraña, Jofre Gasión, Marina Luquin, Esther Julián P 168 Specific formulation of mycobacteria improves its antitumor activity against bladder cancer cells Estela Noguera-Ortega, Núria Blanco-Cabra, Mónica Roldán, Marina Luquin, Esther Julián P 191 PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS CAUSED BY M. szulgai: CASE REPORT Kemal Tekin, Ferhat Onur Ural, Mustafa Guney, Seyfettın Gumus, Ali Albay P 195 Bloodstream Infection by Mycobacterium abscessus: A Case Report Serhat Duyan, Mustafa Guney, Erman Ates, Abdullah Kilic, Ali Albay P 203 PULMONARY DISEASE by NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA . A 10 YEARS STUDY Maria Teresa Tortola Fernandez , Carmen Aleman, Meritxell Espuga, Israel Molina, Jose Angel Rodrigo, Nuria Saborit, Asuncion Seminario, Teresa Soriano, Alba Torrent, Nuria MartinCasabona P 213 Case Report of Mycobacterium tilburgii Infection Timur S. Akpinar, O.K. Bakkaloglu, Burak Ince, O. Kaya Koksalan, Nesimi Buyukbabani, Bulent Saka, Nilgun Erten, Zeki Kilicaslan, Cemil Tascioglu P 216 The disability in leprosy due to social stigma Hernando Yesid Estupiñán Velásquez, Debora Villa Villa, Wellman Ribon P 218 PULMONARY MYCOBACTERIOSIS CAUSED BY MYCOBACTERIUM PEREGRINUM IN AN OLD WOMAN Ionela Muntean, Adriana Drăgan,Daniela Homorodean, Sven Hoffner P 226 Molecular identification of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) members recovered from clinical samples in a hospital in a 3-year period Julio Alvarez, Beatriz Romero , Claudio Cuartero, Javier Bezos, Carmen Casal Comendador, N. SánchezJohanna Gimeno, Lucas Domínguez, Enrique Gómez-Mampaso P 228 Characterization of Mycobacterium in wild bird groups distributed in the department of Santander, Colombia Jhoner Rueda, Fernando Rondón, Wellman Ribon 31 P 235 MyCOBaCTERIUM aFRICanUM IN PORTUGAL: A CASE REPORT Luisa Sancho, Clara Portugal, Luisa Tancredo, Maria Silva, Angela Dias, Filomena Silva, Germano Sousa P 239 OCCURRENCE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSP. paRaTUBERCULOSIS IN ROAD KILLED WILD CARNIVORES IN PORTUGAL Ana Matos, Luis Figueira, Maria Helena Martins, Manuel Martins, Filipa Loureiro, Maria de Lurdes Pinto, Manuela Matos, Ana Cláudia Coelho P 240 SEROSURVEY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM COMPLEx IN WILD BOARS IN PORTUGAL Ana Matos, Luis Figueira, Maria Helena Martins, Manuel Martins, Manuela Matos, Maria de Lurdes Pinto, Ana Claudia Coelho P 254 TB OR MYCOBACTERIOSIS: DETECTION, SPECIES IDENTIFICATION AND DST IN PRACTICE OF MICROBIOLOGY LAB Tatiana Smirnova,ElenaLarionova,SofiaAndreevskaya,AlenaVorobyeva,LarisaChernousova IGRA AND LATENT TB P 118 INDETERMINATE qUANTIFERON-TB GOLD IN-TUBE RESULTS IN CHILDREN: ASSOCIATION WITH PNEUMONIA? Giulia Lombardi, Paola Dal Monte, Agnese Denicolò, Antonella Pace, Roberta Petrucci, Ilaria Corsini, Maria Letizia Bacchi Reggiani, Salvatore Cazzato, Maria Paola Landini P 233 CLINICAL AND ROENTGENOLOGICAL FEATURES IN CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENT PROFILES OF IMMUNOLOGICAL TESTS Anna Starshinova, Pavel Gavrilov, Natalia Korneva, Irina Dovgaluk 32 ABSTRACTS OF LECTURES (L) L-1 TOWARDS GENOMIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Mathilde Mairey3, Caroline Allix-Béguec3, Philip Supply1, 2, 3 1 Center for Infection and Immunity, InSERM 1019 CnRS UMR 8204, Lille, France 2 Institut pasteur de Lille, Lille, France 3 genoscreen, Lille, France As a disruptive technology, next-generation sequencing (NGS) opens the way towards comprehensive, whole genome sequence (WGS)-sequence based exploitation of microbial genetic information, for improved diagnostics and disease surveillance. However, several key issues need to be addressed for relevant generalized use, in progressive replacement of tuberculosis (TB) molecular diagnostics and classical typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. As an introduction to the workshop some of these questionswillbebrieflyoverviewed,basedonrecent findingsandourworkdoneintheframeoftheFP7funded Patho-NGen-Trace project, comprising whole genome sequencing of > 1,000 isolates of M. tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus and Campylobacter jejuni. These questions include e.g. the performances and scalability of NGS platforms, the range of genome-wide variation to consider for cluster detection using molecular tracing, the potential and interest to detect other variations than single nucleotide polymorphisms, the need to adapt NGS strategies to the questions addressed (e.g. molecular tracing vs detection of drug resistance), and the need for new integrated, easy-to-use bio-informatics pipelines and for a standardized genome-based nomenclature system. The interest of WGS-based approaches, to discover new, unexpected biological features will also be illustrated on the basis of our recent work done on particular human TB causing strains,classifiedasM. canettii. L-2 DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTIES - INTERPRETING GENOMIC DATA FOR PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION Timothy M Walker University of Oxford, Oxford, UK A growing body of literature suggests that next generation sequencing technology will have a transformative effect on public health control of M. tuberculosis despite being a tool in relative infancy. There is no standardized approach to assembling andfilteringrawdata,andnoconsensusaroundhow results should be interpreted to guide public health interventions. Inferences drawn from genetic data depend on the epidemiology of the setting, the completeness of sampling, the sequencing platform and filtering pipeline, as well as methods used to relate sequences to one another. Whereas there are attempts to build aninternationalconsensusaroundfilteringpipelines, it is equally important to build an understanding of the caveats when interpreting the outputs of any agreed approach. I will use case studies to discuss the reasons for caution when interpreting NGS data, as well as to highlight the potential power of the tool. L-3 ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR TYPING OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS; SHOULD WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING BECOME THE NEW GOLD STANDARD? Dick van Soolingen1, Josephine Bryant2, Rosa Sloot3, Martien Borgdorff4, Jessica De Beer5 1 national Institute for public health and the Environment, Bilthoven, netherlands 2 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK 3 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, academic Medical Center, University of amsterdam, amsterdam, The netherlands 4 Department of Infectious Diseases, public health Service, amsterdam, The netherlands 5 national Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, national Institute for public health and the Environment (Rivm), Bilthoven, The netherlands Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtbc) reveals a very limited genomic diversity and does generally not horizontally exchange DNA, which suggests whole genome sequencing (WGS) may be an excellent tool in the molecular epidemiology. However, this requires a particular rate of genetic turn-over, ideally in agreement with the pace of tuberculosis (TB) transmission. To study this, 199 isolates from epidemiologically linked or unrelated cases with known time spacing were selected at the Municipal Health Service in Amsterdam and subjected to WGS. An average mutation rate of ~0.3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) per genome per year was observed. However, there was a very high degree of variation in mutation rate around this mean. Furthermore, not less than 82 pairs 33 without an obvious epidemiological link revealed a zero SNP difference, suggesting interpretation of WGS data to detect epidemiological links may be difficultinoursetting.However,alsoapartoftheepilinks indicated by RFLP/vNTR were refuted by the information from WGS. Once the WGS technology is capable of including repetitive sequences such as the MIRu-vNTRs and IS6110 elements in the analysis,thiswillbecomeahighlyefficientlaboratory toolforidentification,indicativeresistancetestingand epidemiological typing. L-4 BENCH TOP NExT GENERATION SEqUENCING: REVOLUTIONIZING MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DIAGNOSTICS? Stefan Niemann Molecular Mycobacteriology, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, germany Next generation sequencing (NGS) based whole genome analysis (WGS) of clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates opens the door for completely new approaches for molecular epidemiology and tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics. Few pioneering studies indicate that WGS offers substantially higher resolution of MTBC clinical strains e.g. for outbreak investigation compared to classical genotyping such as IS6110 typing or 24 locusbased MIRu-vNTR typing. Simultaneously, WGS analysis allows for almost comprehensive detection of variants in target genes involved in resistance development (resistome analysis), thus potentially outcompeting classical molecular diagnostic tests that can determine a limited number of variations (mainly single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) in few targets only. So far, real time prospective NGS based analysis of clinical isolates was hampered by the fact that NGS analysis have been mainly performed by specialized sequencing centres in a retrospective manner on large expensive NGS platforms that are, intermsofworkflow,sequencingcostsandruntime, not optimized to the needs of smaller laboratories investigating bacterial genomes. However, recently, so-called bench top NGS systems, which can be integrated into a normal laboratory workflow, have become available to sequence bacterial genomes in few days. We established rapid genome analysis of clinical MTBC isolates using the Illumina MiSeq system and software pipelines usable in a small laboratory settings.Theoverallworkflowfromlibrarypreparation tofinalNGSdataanalysiscouldbeoptimizedtolast less than three working days. First evaluations of the performance indicate that MiSeq based genome analysis is excellently suited for real time investigation of MTBC outbreaks and diagnostics. 34 ABSTRACTS OF GUEST LECTURES (GL) GL-1 NEW INSIGHTS INTO PATHOGENOMICS OF THE TUBERCULOSIS AGENT Roland Brosch Institut pasteur, Unit for Integrated Mycobacterial pathogenomics, paris, France Global spread and limited genetic variation are hallmarks of M. tuberculosis, the agent of human tuberculosis. In contrast, Mycobacterium canettii and related tubercle bacilli that also cause human tuberculosis and exhibit unusual smooth colony morphology are restricted to East Africa. We sequenced and analyzed the whole genomes of five representative strains of smooth tubercle bacilli (STB) using Sanger, 454/Roche and Illumina DNA sequencing as well as four strains on the basis of a shotgun assembly. We show that STB isolates are highly recombinogenic and evolutionarily early branching, with larger genome sizes, higher rates of genetic variation, fewer molecular scars and distinct CRISPR-Cas systems and prophages relative to M. tuberculosis. Despite the differences, all tuberculosiscausing mycobacteria share a highly conserved core genome. Mouse infection experiments showed that STB strains are less persistent and virulent than M. tuberculosis. We conclude that M. tuberculosis emerged from an ancestral STB-like pool of mycobacteria by gain of persistence and virulence mechanisms. Apart from genomic regions that differed, we also found regions that were highly conserved among the different strains. One of these regions was the genomic locus encoding the ESX-1/type vII secretion system. This system, which is absent from the attenuated BCG and Mycobacterium microti vaccine strains, has been recently shown to be involved in the rupture of the phagolysosomal membrane in THP1 cells. The presence of ESX-1 or its absence from certain mycobacterial strains or strain-lineages thus strongly influences the virulence potential and the immunological properties of a given strain. This knowledge is of importance for the search of potential virulence factors of M. tuberculosis and for the construction of better recombinant vaccines and diagnostic tools. GL-2 MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS SPREADING IN EUROPEAN METROPOLITAN AREAS Molecular epidemiology of MDRTB strainsTBPANNET Working Group Andrea Gori Division of Infectious Diseases, „San gerardo“ hospital, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy Background: The study aims to characterize the molecular epidemiology features of drug resistant TB strains in selected metropolitan settings in Western and Eastern Europe creating new tools to monitor the spreading of drug-resistant TB as well as to study social, epidemiological and clinical risk factors associated with TB in different urban settings. Patients and Methods: Consecutive collection of all M. tuberculosis strains isolated and of clinical and epidemiological data in order to perform a systematic study of the risk factors for MDR-TB. Standardization of genotyping data reporting and interpretation between different metropolitan settings and development of an easy-to-use TB surveillance system for the automated identificationofM. tuberculosis strain types. Results: 2520 more strains were collected in 2012. Cluster analysis of 360 MDR-TB strains with complete 24-loci MIRU-VNTR profile isolated in 7 centres, demonstrated a clustering rate of 0.647 using 24-loci MIRu-vNTR genotyping. Rate of MDR TB clusterization varied across centres (from 95.4% in Tartu, 68.9% in vilnius, 53.6% in Bruxelles, 38.5% in Stockholm, 19.4% in London). The most common lineage of MDR-TB strains was Beijing (65.6%), followed by uRAL (11.1%) and LAM (7.2%). Other lineages included Haarlem (1.7%), Delhi/CAS (1.1%), TuR (0.8%), Cameroon (0.8%), Ghana (0.6%), NEW1 (0.3%), ugandaI (0.3%). The largest MDR-TB cluster included 148 strains belonging to the Beijing family, of whom 130 isolated in Tartu, 13 in vilnius, 4 in Bruxelles and 1 in Hamburg. Local-born patients weresignificantlymorelikelytobeinvolvedinclusters than foreign-born patients in the cities of Hamburg (44.3% clustered patients among local-born versus 22.2% among foreigners; P=0.008), London (20.7% versus 6.8%; P=0.014), vilnius (53.8% versus 36.8%; P=0.15) and Tartu (70.5% versus 56.8%, P<0.001). Conversely, the risk of clustering was comparable between local- and foreign-born patients diagnosed with TB in Stockholm and Bruxelles. Homelessness (OR 1.51; 95%CI 0.97-2.36), recent detention (OR 2.6; 95%CI 1.69-4.00), intravenous drug abuse (OR 35 1.89; 95%CI 0.96-3.72) and alcohol abuse (OR 2.12; 95%CI 1.65-2.74) were associated with a higher risk of clustering. Moreover, HIv-positivity was associated with a higher risk of clusterization as compared with patients with a negative test (OR 2.76; 95%CI 1.27-6.02). No evidence of increased risk of MDRTB clustering was found among prisoners, alcohol abusers, intravenous drug users and patients using immune-suppressive drugs. Conclusions: A wide approach integrating molecular dataandtheepidemiologicalinformationtodefineTB transmission settings represents an helpful method in designing and in improving health public preventive strategies, and in elaborating new tools to control the spreading of MDR-TB in the setting of Western and Eastern European metropolitan cities. direct WGS for all specimens. Taking WGS to predict multiple resistance profiles for XDR-TB to more challenging diagnostic environments will require novel nano-sensingtechnologiesandmicrofluidicsthatare currently under development. Genotypic correlates of resistance have the potential for major impact in clinical management of XDR-TB and indirectly will benefit public health as well as provide major cost benefits to healthcare systems. Capacity for and access to accurate and rapid phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing remains imperative and will allow for continual robust genotypic correlates of resistance to be made. Dedicated curated and interrogatable databases are needed. TB clinicians will need to use the language of genomics, as has been achieved in HIv medicine. GL-3 GL-4 RAPID WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING AS A TOOL TO MANAGE MDR/xDR-TB PATIENTS LESSONS ON DRUG RESISTANCE FROM WGS OF ONE THOUSAND CLINICAL ISOLATES Philip D Butcher Centre for Infection and Immunity, St george’s University of London, London, UK Taane G Clark (on behalf of the Global Drug Resistance Collaboration) Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK Genome sequencing has had a transformative impact on our understanding of the pathogenesis and the biology of TB. But what clinical impact has it had? The W.H.O. calls for better control measures if the millennium goal of TB eradication by 2050 is tobemet.Efficientclinicalcasemanagementwillbe a major contributor, but new technologies to inform better diagnostics and treatment are also called for in addition to new vaccines and new drugs. Genomics can contribute to these. One area of potential impact is the use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) to predict antibiotic susceptibility from genotypic changes in target genes by sequencing clinical isolates of M.tuberculosis.This is of specific relevance to the management of MDR and XDR TB, where cocktails of antibiotics are given for prolonged periods, often empirically. Rapid access to genotypic data could inform treatment regimes. Several examples are presented of how WGS has been used in different clinical cases of XDR-TB. These include theidentificationofsinglenucleotidepolymorphisms (SNPs) in gyrA to predict the use of moxifloxacin despite the DST predicting resistance; and SNPs in pncA that informed the exclusion of pyrazinamide from a treatment regime. Consideration of how this can be routinely implemented in hospital care pathways requires WGS data to be rapidly available within days, without the need for culture and direct from sputum specimens. Turn around times of 2 days are possible using the IonTorrent PGM sequencer. Methods to differentially enrich M.tuberculosis DNA from human sputumarerequiredsothatsufficientsequenceread depth can be obtained for robust SNP calling from low amounts of bacterial DNA. Consideration of variation in bacterial load in sputum will affect the applicability of 36 The increase in incidence of multi- and extensivedrug resistance (MDR, XDR) is a serious challenge to the effective control of tuberculosis. There is an urgent need for better treatments and further insights into drug resistance mechanisms, which in turn require a deeper understanding of the biology of TB. Knowledge of the genomic variability among Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) could result in such biological insights. using recent innovations in massively parallelisable sequencing technology, we have whole genome sequenced over 1000 Mtb (sourced from 10 countries) with known drug resistance profiles (MDR, XDR) and strain-types. We present results and insights from an ongoing genomewide association analysis. GL-5 LOW DENSITY MICROARRAYS AS POTENTIAL TOOLS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF DRUG RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS Paolo Miotto Emerging Bacterial pathogens Unit Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases San Raffaele Scientific Institute Milan, Italy The lack of diagnostic tools and drugs is the main obstacle to control poverty-related diseases. Tuberculosis (TB), malaria and AIDS account for 15- 20% of the disease burden in the poorest countries. The diagnosis of TB is challenging due to the complexity of its clinical presentation. In addition, the emergence of drug resistant (DR) strains represents an additional obstacle to prompt clinical management of TB cases. Performing sensitivity tests in solid or liquid media is still a challenge in many settings due to the inadequacy of infrastructures, the suboptimal biosafety and the long time required to obtain results. For some drugs, including first line drugs, problems of reproducibility and accuracy of drug susceptibility testing (DST) cast an additional layer of entanglement. The WHO estimates that less than 4-6% of suspects are tested for multidrug resistance (MDR) DST globally, and only 23% of MDR cases were reported to have second-line DST. The suboptimal levels of coverage of DST contributes to the low diagnosis of MDR-TB cases. Todayseveralmutationsinwell-definedregionsofthe genome of M. tuberculosis (MTB) are associated with DR phenotype and can be targeted for a molecular DST. The advent of such tests, mainly based on the detection of the rifampicine resistance, greatly boosted the detection of MDR cases. However, soon after their introduction in the diagnostic algorithms it became clear that further resistance testing is needed for a successful management of the patients. Moreover, several evidences shows the clinical relevance of the genetic background of MTB and support the need to introduce genotyping data (usually used only for epidemiological purposes) in the clinical routine. To address this demand for an extended DST evaluating multiple genetic targets, low/mediumthroughput tools came into play. Microarrays have the unprecedented potential to simultaneously detect and identify several microbial genes and/or provide parallel sequencing analysis. For these applications, microarray platforms are undergoing an adaptation to switch from translational research laboratories to clinical laboratory. Costly devices requiring extensive expertise are being replaced by user-friendly labon-chips integrating different steps and providing automated analysis and reporting. As PCR and real-time PCR have done in the past, microarray technology will undoubtedly transform the diagnostic capabilities of clinical laboratories. GL-6 MOLECULAR AND qUANTITATIVE APPROACHES TO DST – TOOLS TOWARDS BETTER GUIDED TB THERAPY IN THE DAYS OF MDR AND xDR Erik Christian Boettger Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, nationales zentrum für Mykobakterien, Universität zürich, zürich, Switzerland insight that has accumulated during the past years, little has changed in the laboratory procedures which define drug resistance for clinical M. tuberculosis isolates on the basis of critical concentration testing. Evidence is accumulating that drug resistance in M. tuberculosis is quite heterogeneous and composed of low-, moderate-, and high-level drug resistance. Systematic genotype – phenotype studies have revealed that different SNPs are associated with different resistance levels. These findings indicate that established procedures for diagnostic drug susceptibility testing based on critical concentration testing have limitations and need to be complemented by quantitative measures of drug susceptibility, with the view to optimize treatment in particular for MDR/ XDR tuberculosis. GL-7 CHALLENGES OF PYRAZINAMIDE TESTING Sven Hoffner The Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Solna, Sweden Pyrazinamid(PZA)isanimportantfirstlineagentin the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), with a clear role in both drug susceptible cases and in patients with drug resistant TB, as long as the infecting strain is susceptible to PZA. unfortunately in most MDR/ XDR-TB cases the PZA susceptibility is not known since information of in vitro susceptibility to PZA, at least reliable information, is lacking in most setting where MDR/XDR-TB is common. The reasons for this unfortunatedifferencetootherfirstlineanti-TBdrugs are the well known technical difficulties to establish reliable, high quality phenotypic susceptibility testing for PZA, the lack of generally available proficiency test panels and the lack of a commercially available molecular rapid test to demonstrated resistance related mutations in the pncA gene. The lack of quality support for PZA DST is especially unlucky since PZA testing is technically more demanding than any other important anti-TB drug – and of course the fact that we see increasing public health treats due to drug resistant TB. Resistant M. tuberculosis strains need to be treated with the best possible combinations of anti-TB drugs. In this presentation, our experience with the phenotypic assays; MGIT and PZA:ase-test, sequencing of the pncA gene as well as lessons learned while introducing a national qMS for PZA DST in Sweden will be discussed. Acquired drug resistance in M. tuberculosis is exclusively due to chromosomal alterations, such as mutations or deletions. Compared to all the genetic 37 GL-8 GL-10 NEW APPROACHES TO TUBERCULOSIS TREATMENT NEW TB VACCINES, WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE GO Christian Lienhardt Carlos Martin GL-9 HOST-BASED BIOMARKERS AND DIFFERENT OUTCOMES OF MTB INFECTION Gerhard Walzl Immunology Research group, DST/nRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research and MRC Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Division of Molecular Biology and human genetics, Faculty of Medicine and health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South africa. Our incomplete understanding of host responses during the different stages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection hampers the discovery of new tools (affordable, rapid and accurate diagnostics, effective treatment regimens lasting only a few weeks and pre- and post exposure vaccines) to control tuberculosis. We have searched for biomarkers for different infection phases and for different outcomes of infection and treatment in a high MTB transmission setting with high TB disease rates in Cape Town, South Africa, by using a combination of targeted host marker measurements and unbiased ‘omics‘ approaches. During active disease, disturbances in numerous biological pathways are mirrored by changing levels ofhostinflammatoryandanti-inflammatorymolecules and recover at different rates during chemotherapy. High serum levels of inflammatory host markers and extensive disease at baseline predict slow MTB culture conversion, relapse after initial cure or treatment failure. Marked geographical differences in immune responses within Africa were noted. It is therefore unlikely that single biomarkers will succeed as predictors of outcome but biosignatures that are composed of several host markers look promising. We also present the largest positron emission tomography/ computerized tomography (PET/CT) dataset in relation to TB chemotherapy available to date, which reveals remarkable end-of-treatment heterogeneity amongst patients.Ongoinglunginflammationinalargesubset ofpatientsmaybeduetosecondaryinflammationor due to persistent MTB infection, in spite of negative sputum cultures. In conclusion, although the search for clinically useful TB biomarkers is ongoing, new information is being generated in this search, which increases our understanding of host responses to MTB infection. 38 GL-11 NEW CHALLENGES FOR BURULI ULCER CONTROL Francoise Portaels, K. Vandelannoote, M. Eddyani, B. de Jong Mycobacteriology Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine, antwerp, Belgium Buruli ulcer (Bu), caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, is the third most common human mycobacteriosis worldwide after tuberculosis and leprosy. M. ulcerans arose from M. marinum and acquired a virulence plasmid coding for mycolactone, a necrotizing, immunosuppressive toxin that mediates pathogenesis. The disease is endemic in rural wetlands of tropical countries of Africa, America, Asia and Australia but remains uncommon in non-African countries. A few cases have been reported in non-tropical areas of Australia, Japan and China. Some patients, who were born and lived in Bu endemic countries or traveled to endemic countries, developed Bu in a non-endemic country. These cases have enabled us to acquire more knowledge regarding the pathogenesis of the disease (latency and reactivation). Children 15 years old or younger account for approximately 75% of cases. Risk factors include tropical climate, exposure to stagnant water, unprotected water sources, hygiene, trauma to skin and HIv infection. The most plausible mode of transmission is minor skin trauma permitting inoculation of M. ulcerans, but other modes and reservoirs, are under investigation. Geographically, there are multiple strains of M. ulcerans, with variable pathogenicity and immunogenicity. Fingerprinting techniques and genome sequencing can provide additional information on the precise location where patients were infected. M. ulcerans disease presents a spectrum of forms related partly to patient delay in admission to hospital and other factors such as the immune status of the host, the size and depth of the inoculum, and the virulence of the M. ulcerans strain. The clinical diagnosis can be difficult even for experienced health professionals, hence the importance of microbiologic confirmation by direct smear examination, in vitro cultivation, PCR targeting IS2404 by gel-based PCR or quantitative realtime qPCR and histopathologic examination (also important for the differential diagnosis). The results of new diagnostic methods such as antigen capture approach and direct detection of mycolactone are encouraging and are likely to lead to atestthatcouldbeusedinfield.Theylack,however, sufficientsensitivity. WHO recommends, if not contraindicated, the directly observed use of at least an 8-week course of rifampicin and streptomycin (RS). Surgery is recommended to remove necrotic tissue, cover large skin defects and correct deformities. Combination of antibiotics and surgery may be necessary for some severe lesions such as disseminated and bone lesions. Other antibiotic regimens, especially those administered completely orally (rifampicin and clarithromycin) are under evaluation in Benin and Ghana. Regarding possible vaccination, the Burulivac project hasledtomanynewfindingsbutaneffectivevaccine will not be available for many years. GL-12 INTERFERON GAMMA RELEASE ADVANTAGES, LIMITATIONS, NEW ADVANCES ASSAYS: Delia Goletti Translation Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and preclinical Research national Institute for Infectious Diseases, Rome, Italy A third of the world’s population is estimated to be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, providing a very large reservoir for future active tuberculosis (TB). The tuberculin skin test (TST) has traditionally been used to identify people with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Despite its usefulness and simplicity, the TST has limitations, mainly due to logistic and low specificityinthosevaccinatedwithBacillusCalmette et Guerin. T-cell-based interferon (IFN)-γ release assays (IGRAs) can also be used for the diagnosis of LTBI and have been available for the past decade. They are in vitro assays based on the overnight releaseofIFN-γfromTcellsinresponsetospecific antigens from the RD1 region of M. tuberculosis. Here we discuss their accuracy in terms of sensitivity, specificity,positiveandnegativepredictivevaluefor TB development in both, immune competent and immune deficient persons. Advances of IGRAs will be presented. The new tests are based on antigens different from RD1, on readout different from the detectionofIFN-γ,onincubationtimedifferentfrom overnight stimulation. Advantages and limitations will be discussed. 39 ABSTRACT of HONOREE Lecture GERTRUD MEISSNER AWARD LECTURE Tuberculosis: new drugs on the horizon Causes and consequences of parallel evolution of tuberculosis and humans over seventy thousand years Giovanna Riccardi Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Lazzaro Spallanzani”, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the most difficult infections to treat. The prevalence of TB/HIV coinfection, and the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB), extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) and even totally drug resistant (TDR-TB) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis constitute a serious health problem. Consequently, new antitubercular drugs are urgently needed with novel mechanisms of action. Indeed, after a long period of neglect, a few molecules are now in phase II clinical trials while others are still in preclinical phase, like the benzothiazinone BTZ043. This is one of the most promising TB drug candidate which targets the catalytic component of the essential enzyme decaprenylphosphoryl-β-D-ribofuranose2‘-epimerase (DprE1), involved in the biosynthesis of arabinans, crucial components of mycobacterial cell wall and essential for the pathogen’s survival. The recent description of the crystal structures of M. tuberculosis DprE1 enzyme in native form and bound with BTZ will contribute to a better understanding of the inhibition mechanism as well as to design new and more appropriate molecules against this “magic target”. There is currently no consensus on the best method to identify new anti-TB drugs that may be effective in vivo. A simple approach is to discover an active molecule through a phenotypic screening of chemical or natural libraries against M. tuberculosis in vitro growth, and then to identify the corresponding target. An alternative way includes first the identification of new essential mycobacterial targets and then a suitable inhibitor, being aware that compounds identified by this screen often lack activity against whole cells. It is noteworthy that in the battle against TB, all of the molecules currently under development or in clinical trials were discovered according to their whole cell activity. New drugs, as well as the corresponding targets, identified in our laboratory, through the selection of spontaneous resistant mutants followed by whole genome sequencing, will be reported. 40 Iñaki Comas1, Mireia Coscolla2, Tao Luo3, Stefan Berg4, Dorothy Yeboah-Manu5, Sebastien Gagneux2, Julian Parkhill6, Qian Gao3, Douglas Young7, Stefan Niemann8 1 Center for Public Health Research (CsispFisabio), Valencia, Spain 2 Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland 3 Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences and Institute of Medical Microbiology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China 4 Tb Research Group, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, UK 5 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana 6 Pathogen Genomics, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK 7 Mrc National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, UK 8 Resarch Center Borstel, National Reference Center for Mycobacteria, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Borstel, Germany Tuberculosis (TB) caused 20% of all human deaths in the Western world between the 17th and 19th centuries, and remains a cause of high mortality in developing countries. In analogy to other crowd diseases, the origin of human TB has been associated with the Neolithic Demographic Transition, but recent studies point to a much earlier origin. Here we used 259 wholegenome sequences to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Coalescent analyses indicate that MTBC emerged about 70 thousand years ago, accompanied migrations of anatomically modern humans out of Africa, and expanded as a consequence of increases in human population density during the Neolithic. This long co-evolutionary history is consistent with MTBC displaying characteristics indicative of adaptation to both low- and high host densities. During this seventy thousand years tuberculosis strains have accumulated more than thirty thousand single nucleotide polymorphism. I will show examples how this long-term co-evolution has translated in genetic changes that impact the physiology of the bacteria and the nature of the host pathogen interaction ABSTRACTS OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS (OP) M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS I OP39 IDENTIFICATION OF LINEAGE-SPECIFIC GENETIC MARKERS FROM MORE THAN 1,500 MTBC ISOLATES Francesc Coll1, Kim Mallard1, Mark D. Preston1, Stephen Bentley2, Julian Parkhill2, Ruth McNerney1, Nigel Martin3, Taane G Clark1 1 Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK 2 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust genome Campus, hinxton, UK 3 Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, Birkbeck College, London, UK Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and large sequence polymorphisms (LSP) derived from wholegenome sequencing (WGS) are becoming the markers of choice for epidemiological and evolutionary applications, replacing those from traditional genotyping techniques such as IS6110-RFLP, spoligotyping or MIRu-vNTR. To take full advantage of the high volumes of raw data being generated by current WGS technologies, we have developed a computational pipeline to discovery genetic polymorphisms. SNPs, small insertions and deletions and LSPs have been catalogued for more than 1,500 MTBC isolates using state-of-the-art sequence analyses tools. The variants have been used to construct phylogenetic trees, showing clear population structure across major MTBC genetic lineages including both modern and ancestral lineages. Isolates were in silico spoligotyped to investigate strain diversity, and population genetics metrics were applied to identify strain specificvariantsandthosedrivinglineage.Theresulting informative markers will assist the development of high-throughput assays to barcode MTBC isolates for epidemiological, diagnostic and clinical studies. Further, we have developed a web-based tool to display the resulting MTBC variation in the global dataset integrated with allele geographic distribution, strain type information and population structure visualisation through the construction of phylogenetic trees OP157 COMPARATIVE TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSIS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN A LIPID ENVIRONMENT Patricia Del Portillo1, Maria Jesus Garcia2, Jorge Gonzalez-y-Merchand3, Maria Mercedes Zambrano1, Juan Germán Rodríguez1, Juan Manuel Anzola1 1 Corporación Corpogen, Bogota, Colombia 2 Facultad de Medicina, Universidad autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 3 national School of Biological Sciences, Ipn., Intituto politecnico nacional, Mexico City, Mexico Introduction: Emerging evidence suggest that fatty acids rather than carbohydrates might be the dominant carbon substrate utilized by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) during intracellular growth and persistence. Mtb is considered to be in a dormant stage during latency where bacilli reside in a lipid environment provided by the surrounding foamy macrophages. To determine the role of fatty acids in the metabolism and persistence of Mtb, we used ss-RNA-seq to analyze changes in the transcriptome of Mtb associated with the assimilation of even-long chain fatty acids (LC-FA) as sole carbon source. Methods: For the in vitro model, bacilli were grown in either dextrose-supplemented (control) or in a mix of LC-FA. Total RNA was isolated in the exponential and early stationary phases of growth and directional libraries were constructed. Sequencing was performed using Illumina HiSeq platform. Statistical analysis for differential gene expression was performed using the Fisher Exact Test with False Discovery Rate correction. Results: The number of sequences retained after processing for quality was 13.1 – 19.3 million reads, the libraries showed a good coverage of the Mtb genome with the sequence depth obtained. The global results showed that in the presence of fatty acids, the number of transcripts were lower. Interestingly, regulatory RNAs, are more transcribed and are differentially expressed in the stationary phase of fatty acid enriched environment. The overexpression of aminoacyl-t-RNAs was observed for the first time. Several genes belonging to different functional categoriesshowedsignificantincreaseexpressionin the fatty acid model. Among them those related with lipid metabolism allow us to propose a novel model that will be discussed. Conclusions: The results show the potential of this technology to give a holistic view of the transcriptome of MTB under selected conditions that in the future could contribute towards the design of novel strategies for the control of tuberculosis. Funding resources: The FP7 Eu-grant 200999 - Stop LATENT-TB and Colciencias Grant No 4392012 funded this work 41 OP53 INSIGHTS INTO THE GENE ACTIVITY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS GROWING IN A FATTY-ACID ENRICHED MEDIUM Juan German Rodriguez1, Adriana Carolina Hernandez1, Jorge Gonzalez-y-Merchand2, Addy Cecilia Helguera-Repetto2, Jose Ricardo Bustos1, Juan Manuel Anzola1, Maria Mercedes Zambrano1, Patricia del Portillo1, Maria Jesus Garcia3 1 Corporación Corpogen, Bogota, Colombia 2 Encb, Instituto politecnico nacional, Mexico 3 Facultad de Medicina, Universidad autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Introduction: In order to survive during infection, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) should confront different environmental conditions. Thus, resistance to oxidative or acidic stresses are considered pivotal for its subsistence. Besides, there is cumulative evidence that host lipids may be a main energy source for MTB to establish a successful infection. The accumulation of lipids by the bacilli is particularly relevant during their intracellular growth, such increase of these compounds leads to a considered state of persistence or dormancy. Objectives: The main objective of the work was to unravel the transcriptomic response of MTB in a lipid environment. We focus on the analysis of the transcriptomic activity emphasizing the functional categories of the genes expressed under such conditions. Methods: Total RNA was isolated in the exponential and early stationary phases of growth from MTB cultures in both dextrose and long-chain fatty acidenriched media (FA-EM). Results derived from global transcriptomic sequencing (RNAseq) were analyzed by standard functional categories of the genes. We sought to identify genes with significant changes in expression in fatty-acids versus dextrose using the Fisher exact test. Results: We identified genes with significant increased expression in the exponential and stationary phases of the FA-EM cultures when compared with corresponding phases in the dextrose media. Therefore, these genes characterized the adaptation of the bacilli to growth in a FA-EM and thus provided a mycobacterial lipid-signature, which includes genes involved in different biological functions of Mtb. The lipid signature includes genes members of five functional categories as described in Tuberculist. As described previously, our results also showed that the glyoxylate shunt was the preferred metabolic pathway for energy production and Acetyl-CoA recycling, being the Icl and PckA the pivotal enzymes. Some genes that codes for protein secretion systems appears to be putatively selected for use in lipid transportation. In addition, we detected up to four regulatory proteins with significant expression on FA-EM, including WhiB3 and DosR, two regulators related to dormancy. Remarkably, almost half of the 42 genes in the lipid signature were members of the dormancy regulon. Conclusions: We suggest the mycobacterial growth in FA-EM as a novel in vitro model suitable to study the dormant phase of MTB. Funding resources: This work was funded by the FP7 Eu-grant StoplatEnt-tB. M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS II OP246 GENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS DELETION MUTANT DEFICIENT IN A PUTATIVE SUBUNIT OF A HETERODIMERIC ABC MULTIDRUG TRANSPORTER Sven Malm, Silvia Maaß, Stefan Ehlers, Stefan Niemann Research Center Borstel, Leibniz-Center for Medicine and Biosciences, Borstel, germany Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains a major health threat for the world’s population and still had been the cause of 1.4 million deaths in 2011. The outcome of tuberculosis is balanced to a considerable degree by the interplay of exposed mycobacterial molecules such as cell wall constituents with the host’s immune system. The translocation of cell wall constituents and their precursors is crucial for exposition of these molecules on the bacterial surface as well as for completion of their synthesis on the extracellular site of the plasma membrane and a lack of mature molecules on the mycobacterial surface might lead to attenuation of virulence or loss of cell wall rigidity. In Escherichia coli MsbA is a transporter of the membrane associated cell wall component lipid A, a constituent of LPS. MsbA is a lipid A ATPdependent transmembrane transporter with flippase activity. msba of E. coli is an essential gene, however mutations within msba can lead to a relaxed substrate specificity.MsbAhastwohomologueswithunknown function in M. tuberculosis, therefore here referred to as MsbA1TB and MsbA2TB. It is proposed that msba1TB and msba2TB encode ABC multidrug transporters. Most probably these ORFs originated from a gene duplication event and are organized in an operon. Both genes might encode a heterodimeric transport protein. A transposon mutant of msba1TB has been found to be essential in vivo and attenuated in macrophages. Transposon mutational analysis of msba2TB has shown that this gene is essential for the survival in macrophages.Aimofthisworkistocontributetofind the link between the intra- and extracellular synthesis of glycolipids of M. tuberculosis, in particular PIMs and theirhighermolecularderivativesandalsotodefine its significance for virulence and pathogenesis in mycobacterial infection. Here we report the generation of a M. tuberculosis deletion mutant deficient in msba2TB. Initial characterization of the mutant strain revealed increased sensitivity of the mutant strain to osmotic stress suggesting that the mutation affected either cell wall integrity or osmoregulation. OP164 CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SMALL RNA ExPRESSION PROFILES INDUCED BY ANTIBIOTICS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Paolo Miotto1, Matthias Merker2, Barbara Tizzano2, Davide Cittaro3, Dejan Lazarevic3, Elia Stupka3, Stefan Niemann2, Daniela Maria Cirillo1 1 Emerging Bacterial pathogens Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy 2 Molecular Mycobacteriology, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, germany 3 Center for Translational genomics and Bioinformatics (Ctgb), San Raffaele Scientific Institute; Milan, Italy Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) play an important role in the stress response and the pathogenicity of many bacteria. This study aims to characterize the expression profileofsRNAsincombinationtomessengerRNAs (mRNAs) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) under stress conditions induced by antibiotic exposure. M. tuberculosis H37Rv was grown in Middlebrook 7H9 medium containing 0.05% Tween80 and supplemented with 10% ADC until early exponential phase.Weexposedtheculturetoofloxacin(OFX)and moxifloxacinantibioticsatbacteriostaticconcentration. Mitomycin C (MMC) was used as additional stressor inducing genotoxic stress. Total RNA was extracted at different timepoints (T0, T1 = 30 min, T2 = 180 min) during antibiotic treatment and checked for quality and quantity by Bioanalyzer 2100 (Agilent Technologies). Libraries for strand-specific sequencing of mRNAs were prepared according to the Ovation RNA-Seq System (NuGEN) protocol or to the TruSeq Small RNA sample preparation guide (Illumina) for sRNAs. In both cases, libraries were run on HiSeq 2000 (Illumina). Transcriptome analysis was performed by aligning the reads to the reference genome using bwa. Strand specific counts of previously published sRNA species were normalized and analyzed using R/BioConductor packages edgeR and maSigPro, in order to identify sRNAs with differential pattern of expression in time. OFX challenge showed a time-dependent response and 4 sRNA clusters (namely c1, c2, c3, and c4) significantlymodulatedduringdrugchallenge.Major changes were observed at T1. Expression levels for 2 of clusters (c1, c3) were found to be consistent to those observed in MMC treated MTB. The c2 showed minor changes between OFX or MMC treated and control cultures. The remaining sRNA gene cluster 43 showed to be up-regulated during MMC treatment but slightly down-regulated during OFX challenge, compared to untreated bacteria. Our preliminary data suggest an “early time response” during OFX stress. We identified a small subset of sRNAs showing differential expression between OFX and MMC treatment. Integrating sRNA and mRNA expression data from different stress experiments will allow the development of post-transcriptional regulatory networks providing novel insight into the fundamental biology of tuberculosis. OP23 UNDERSTANDING THE BIOLOGY OF POLYRIFAMPICIN RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Margaretha de Vos1, Gail Erika Louw2, Rob Warren1, Thomas Victor1, Paul van Helden1 1 Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and health Sciences, Tygerberg, South africa 2 Tuberculosis Research Section, Lcid/niaid/nih, Bethesda, USa Background: Previous studies have shown that rifampicin Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC’s) are highly variable in in vitro selected rifampicin resistant isolates harbouring the same rpoB mutation. This led to the question whether a similar phenomenon occurred in vivo. However, population heterogeneity would not be seen during routine MIC determination as only clones with the highest level of resistance within a culture will be measured. Thus, MIC determination assays masks the true population structure of resistance phenotypes with a bacterial culture. Determination of the rifampicin MIC’s of single Colony Forming units (CFu) isolated from sputum cultures showed a spectrum of MIC’s irrespective of the rpoB mutation and strain background (similar to the in vitro experiments). This in turn led to the question as to whether the observed phenotypic heterogeneity was heritable. Subsequent MIC determination after subculture of the original CFU confirmed, in all instances, that the rifampicin MIC phenotype was stably inherited. Aim: To use whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics tools to identify genetic differences (SNPs, In/Dels) which define the level of rifampicin resistance in isogenic rifampicin-mono-resistant M. tuberculosis clones extracted from sputum cultures. Materials and methods: CFU’sreflectingtheextreme MIC’s (i.e. 2µg/ml vs >100µg/ml) for each rifampicinmono-resistant sputum culture (n=14) were cultured on 7H10 media and DNA was extracted. The whole genomes of 41 CFu‘s were sequenced using an Illumina platform. Comparative bioinformatics tools were used to identify genetic differences between the CFu‘s selected from the same progenitor. This included the use of different sequence aligners and variant callers to maximize the identification of 44 high confidence variants. H37Rv was used as the reference genome. Results and Discussion: An initial analysis was conducted on three CFu‘s (R721_C13, rifampicin MIC: 2 µg/ml; R721_C1, rifampicin MIC: 70µg/ml; R721_C14: rifampicin MIC: 100 µg/ml). Comparative analysis between these CFu‘s showed that R721_C1 and R721_C14 are genetically similar, while four putative In/Dels (small insertions and deletions) were identified in clone R721_C13. No SNPs were detected between the three clones. These In/Dels will be validated by Sanger sequencing and additional bioinformatics tools will be used to predict the effect of the In/Dels on protein function. Additionally, analysis of the remaining CFu‘s will reveal whether a common mechanism is used to modulate the level of rifampicin resistance. Conclusion: Identificationofmechanismmodulating the levels of rifampicin resistance may be more complex than the accumulation of SNPs. This study will address unique knowledge gaps in our understanding of the biology of drug resistance. OP260 WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING FROM EARLY CULTURE OR DIRECTLY FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES Mathilde Mairey1, Bénédicte Condamine1, Christine Hubans-Pierlot1, Stéphanie Ferreira1, Philip Supply 2, Caroline Allix-Béguec1 1 genoscreen, Lille, France 2 Genoscreen, Lille; INSERM, U1019, CNRS UMR 8204, Institut pasteur de Lille, Univ Lille nord de France, Lille, France Background: Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has the potential to become the ultimate method for molecular epidemiology1. However, one key limitation of current WGS technologies for medical microbiology applications is the minimal amount of genomic DNA necessary for the library preparation (1 ng to 1 µg according to platforms). Objectives: For slow growing species like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, first-line diagnostic screening relies on microscopy with a detection limit of 104 bacilli per milliliter which corresponds to around 0.1 ng of genomic DNA. The detection limit of gold standard culture methods is even lower. Therefore, there is a need to optimize the sample preparation process in order to be able to use genomic DNA extracted from early culture or directly from clinical samples. Methods: We have assessed whole genome amplification (WGA) strategies in order to increase the amount of genomic DNA. Therefore, we have designed and conducted experiments to evaluate the potential of relevant and commercially available WGA kits with respect to 6 key parameters: DNA enrichmentrate,amplificationreproducibility,minimal locus bias and sequence error rate, compatibility with subsequent WGS analysis, and price per test. Conclusion: One kit gave reproducible WGA results, whichallowedustoamplifygenomicDNAinsufficient quantity. It also required the shortest experiment and hands-on times, while retaining a competitive price per test. More importantly, subsequent WGS analysis indicated low sequence error rates. The detected SNPsandIndelsarenowsubjectedtoverification. Reference: 1 Roetzer et al. (2013). PLoS Med 10(2): e1001387. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001387 OP245 GENOME WIDE ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS RESISTANCE IN DAIRY CATTLE Mairead Bermingham1, Steve Bishop1, John Woolliams1, Adrian Allen2, Stewart McBride2, David Wright2, Jon Ryder2, Robin Skuce2, Stanley McDowell2, Liz Glass1 1 Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, UK 2 agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, veterinary Sciences Division, Belfast, UK Mycobacterium bovis is the aetiological agent of bovine tuberculosis (TB). Diagnosis is based on the tuberculin test and abattoir surveillance. The failure of the uK and several countries to eradicate TB indicates a need to consider alternative strategies, such as genetic selection of cattle for increased resistance to TB. The aim of this study was to conduct a case/control genome wide association study using the newly available Illumina bovine high density SNP chip to identify loci associated with variation in TB resistance in the Northern Ireland Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle population. Blood samples from 3,715 cattle were collected from 464 herds between 2008 and 2009. Cases were sampled at slaughter, and weredefinedasanimalswithbothapositivereaction tothetuberculinskintestandaconfirmedTBlesion. Age matched controls were sampled from a subset of case herds, and were defined as animals that were negative to the tuberculin skin test. In total, 1,424 cattle were genotyped for 777,962 SNPs. After qC edits, 1,151 cattle (592 cases and 559 controls) and genotype data from 617,610 SNPs remained. Genome wide association using mixed models and regression was used to test for associations between SNPs and TB resistance. The estimated heritability for resistance to TB was 0.21 (SE 0.06). Chromosome wide significant associations detected at eight loci, and together these SNPs explained 8.2% of variance in resistance to TB in the cattle population sample investigated in this study. We aim to independently replicate these findings and understand the genetic architectureofthesignificantregions. 45 MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS AND STRATEGY FOR CONTROL OP47 SUCCESSFUL RUSSIAN CLONE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS: ORIGIN, EMERGENCE AND CURRENT SPREAD Igor Mokrousov St. petersburg pasteur Institute, St. petersburg, Russia Background and objective: It is very common yet true saying that M. tuberculosis is a major human killer. However some of its lineages and clones show more capacity to spread and cause active disease. A clonal group named B0 (Narvskaya, 2003) or W148 (Bifani et al., 2002) was reported in 1/4 of the Beijing genotype isolates across former Soviet union and in respective immigrant communities in the uSA and Western Europe. It has been hypothesized that Beijing В0/W148 historically recently spread throughout former Soviet union due to its special pathogenic properties and thus may present a successful clone of M. tuberculosis (Mokrousov et al., 2008). However, an integral picture of its origin, evolutionary history and biological properties remains obscure. Did it originate within the borders of Russia or former Soviet union or was imported, for example from East Asia? What human movement served, unwittingly, as a vehicle of its dissemination? What pathobiological properties underlie its spread? I searched the literature for presence and properties of the Beijing В0/W148 strains in local populations; these data were subjected to systematic and critical review, re-analysis and new analyses. Review and analysis: Genetically, Beijing B0/W148 is marked with a characteristic double band (7.1 and 9.2 kb) in the upper part of the IS6110-RFLPprofile.In St. Petersburg, most of these isolates had 24-MuRu profile100-32(MIRU-VNTRplus).Althoughthisprofile 100-32 is prevalent among B0/W148 isolates in St. Petersburg,noconsensus24-MIRUprofileexistsfor B0/W148 isolates across Russia. Geographically, in spite of the common perception about omnipresence of Beijing B0/W148 across all post-Soviet countries, its distribution shows a peculiar clinal gradient. Its frequency peaks in the Siberian Russia and, to a lesser extent, in the European part of the former Soviet union. In contrast, the rate of B0/W148 is sharply decreased in the Asian part of the former Soviet union and it is absent in the autochthonous populations elsewhere in the world. Placing the molecular, clinical and epidemiological features in the broad historical, demographic and ecological context, I put forward two interdependent hypotheses. First, 46 B0/W148 likely originated in Siberia and its primary dispersalwasdrivenbyamassivepopulationoutflow from Siberia to European Russia in the 1960-80s. Second, a historically recent and phylogenetically demonstrated successful dissemination of the Beijing B0/W148 strain was triggered by an advent and wide use of the modern anti-TB chemotherapy and was due to its remarkable capacity to acquire drug resistance. In contrast, there is some indication, but not yet a systematic proof, of the enhanced virulence of this strain. Future studies on more isolates from new locations and new time points (archival samples) will increase density of data and resolution of analysis and will test these hypotheses. OP73 LARGE SEqUENCE POLYMORPHISMS OF LATIN AMERICAN-MEDITERRANEAN (LAM) MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS STRAINS ISOLATED IN ITALY AND MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF THE LAM RDRIO STRAINS Laura Rindi, Nicola Bimbi, Carlo Garzelli Dipartimento di Ricerca Traslazionale e delle nuove Tecnologie in Medicina e Chirurgia, Università Di pisa, pisa, Italy The Latin American-Mediterranean (LAM) lineage of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex constitutes a widespread family of strains within the Euro-American phylogeographical lineage. In this study we report the genotypic characterization, based on the large sequence deletion and spoligotype polymorphisms, of a collection of LAM strains isolated in Tuscany, Italy, a region with a low prevalence of tuberculosis (TB), but where the ethnic diversity of TB patients provides an opportunity to study a global sample of LAM strains. Large sequence polymorphism (LSP) analysis of a collection of 137 LAM strains detected three prevalent, mutually exclusive deletions, i.e., RD115, RD174 and RD726, respectively in 27.7%, 28.5% and 13.9% of isolates; 94.9% of strains bearing deletion RD174 also harboured the RDRio deletion. Deletions RD182, RD219 and RD761 were detected in occasional strains; deletions RD122, RD183, RD193 and RD724 were not found; 24.1% of strains showed no deletion. Deletion RD726 was found highly prevalent in the LAM10_CAM spoligotype sublineage that includes the “Cameroon” strains. Of the 42 Spoligotype International Types (SITs) assigned to the study strains, eleven were shared by strains belonging to differentdeletion-definedsublineages.Inparticular,9 SITs (SIT20, 33, 61, 93, 161, 177, 209, 737 and 1064) were detected in two RD-defined sulineages; 1 SIT (SIT60) in three sublineages; and 1 SIT (SIT42) in as many as six distinct RD sublineages. The general lack of concordance between the phylogenetic sublineagesdefinedbylargesequencedeletionsand the spoligotype groupings provides a clear evidence of spoligotype homoplasy due to independent deletion events of the same spacers in strains belonging to different evolutive lineages. These considerations argue against the use of spoligotyping for defining deep phylogenetic relationships within the LAM family. With regard to the LAM RDRio strains, recently emerged as an important cause of tuberculosis (TB) associated with a more severe disease, high transmissibility and multidrug resistance, we did not observe any clinically distinctive or more severe form of disease in RDRio TB patients; moreover, 15-loci variable-Number-TandemRepeat (vNTR) analysis demonstrated that the very large majority of RDRio strains show unique genotypic profiles,whichrulesoutanincreasedtransmissibility of RDRio strains in our low-incidence setting. networks and the underlying expansion of successful clones. Furthermore, our data indicate that a small number of SNPs can lead to altered fitness and increased spreading of a particular clone. Finally, we deduced the Mtb mutation rate in its natural host and the maximum level of genome variation in humanto-human transmissions. Our results establish a paradigm for WGS based pathogen tracing which offers the unique opportunity to unravel the turnover in time and space of pathogenic strain variants in human populations, allowing for a fine-scale estimation of theirrelativefitnessandadaptivemutations. OP224 TRACING MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS TRANSMISSION: WHEN RESOLUTION MATTERS Thomas Kohl1, Roland Diel2, Stefan Niemann1 1 Molecular Mycobacteriology, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, germany 2 Institute for Epidemiology, Schleswig-holstein University hospital, Campus Kiel, germany Reliable and highly discriminatory genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains (causative agents of tuberculosis, TB) is essential for early outbreak detection and the characterization of transmission chains, thus greatly improving TB control strategies. As classical genotyping (e.g. based on IS6110 DNA fingerprint or 24-loci-MIRUvNTR typing) targets only a tiny part of the genome, it may not be able to distinguish between closely related transmission chains, especially over longer time frames . Furthermore, little is known about the microevolutionary events that affect pathogen transmission and fitness in human populations. In contrast to classical genotyping, whole genome sequencing opens new opportunities for tracing the spread of pathogens and exploring genome evolution with the highest possible resolution. However, its performance and public health relevance for tracking outbreaks and genome evolution has not been elucidated. To address this question, we performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) of more than 140 strains from nine different outbreaks found by classical genotyping from 1997 to 2011 in the City of Hamburg. Overall, our results shows WGS analysis to be superior to classical genotyping for the analysis of transmission 47 MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST I OP43 DETECTION OF RIFAMPICIN RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BY PADLOCK PROBES AND A MAGNETIC NANOBEAD-BASED READOUT Anna Engström1, Teresa Zardán Gómez De La Torre2, Maria Strømme2, Mats Nilsson3, David Herthnek4 1 Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of preparedness, Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Solna, Sweden 2 Department of Engineering Sciences, Division of nanotechnology and Functional Materials, Uppsala University, The Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala, Sweden 3 Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 4 Department of Immunology, genetics and pathology, Uppsala University, Science for Life Laboratory, Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala, Sweden Background: Drug resistance poses great challenges for the prevention, treatment and control of tuberculosis (TB). In order to quickly identify a drug-resistant strain it is essential to use molecular diagnostic methods, which can be performed within a day. Padlock probes (PLPs) are linear oligonucleotides with target complementary regions at their 5’ and 3’ ends. The PLP ends are brought into juxtaposition upon hybridization to the target sequence, allowing PLP circularization by ligation. A mismatch at the 3’ end hinders ligation, thereby providing a specific means of mutation detection. Methods: PLPs were designed to target the most common mutations associated with rifampicin (RIF) resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, i.e. at codons 516, 526 and 531 in rpoB. For detection of the wild type sequence, a modified PLP and two oligonucleotides were used, requiring three ligation events (at the above mentioned codons) for circularization. Circularized probes were amplified by rolling circle amplification (RCA). RCA products were coupled to oligonucleotide-conjugated magnetic nanobeads and detected by measurement of the Brownian relaxation frequency shift in an AC susceptometer. Results: The PLPs were tested for discriminatory power on RIF-susceptible and RIF-resistant strains harboring a wild type or mutated rpoB gene. The sensitivity was determined to 30 ng of M. tuberculosis DNA in the magnetic bead-based detection assay. 48 The method proved to be robust for discrimination of specificmutationsandconfirmationofmaintainedor lostwildtype,andforidentificationofM. tuberculosis complex DNA. Conclusions: We have used PLPs, RCA and a magnetic biosensor readout format to develop a molecular method for detection of RIF resistance in M. tuberculosis. The magnetic biosensor is suitable for future development of a low-cost diagnostic labon-a-chip device. OP89 SPRINT: SPOLIGO-RIFAMPICIN-ISONIAZID TYPING Michel Gomgnimbou1, Ivan Hernández-Neuta2, Stefan Panaiotov3, Elizabeta Bachiyska3, Palomino Juan Carlos4, Anandi Martin5, Patricia Del Portillo6, Guislaine Refrégier7, Christophe Sola7 1 Université paris-Sud-Cnrs, Umr8621, Institut de génétique Et Microbiologie, the Infection, genetics, Emerging pathogens (Igepe) Team, Orsay, France; Centre Muraz, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso 2 Molecular Biotechnology Corporacion Corpogen, Bogota, Colombia 3 national Center of Infectious and parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria 4 University of gent, gent, Belgium 5 Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, ghent University, gent, Belgium 6 Corporación Corpogen, Bogota, Colombia 7 Université paris-Sud-Cnrs, Institut de génétique Et Microbiologie, Infection genetics Emerging pathogen Evolution Team, Orsay, France Multi and Extensively Drug-Resistant tuberculosis (M/ XDR-TB) is a threat for public health. It needs urgent improvement in the field of diagnostic, treatment, control and prevention. We extended previous results on “spoligoriftyping” that allows simultaneous spoligotyping and rifampicin resistance mutations detection on Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) DNA, to the detection of isoniazid resistance mutations. This work introduces a new paradigm for tuberculosis control by putting a microbiology laboratory as a hub to provide simultaneously, on one hand genotypic Drug-Susceptibility Testing (DST) results to clinicians for patient treatment management, and on the other hand data for molecular epidemiology purposes to epidemiologists and public health specialists. Targeted mutations in the rpoB, katG, inha, and the DR locus are simultaneously amplified by PCR. Hybridization detection is done optically in a microbead-based assay on a Luminex 200®, BioPlex®, FlexMap 3D® or on a Magpix® system. We called this test “SPRINT” and we validated the test using sequencing as reference, phenotypic DST and spoligotyping. Spoligotyping patterns obtained by “SPRINT” were 100% (n= 85 isolates; 3,655/3,655 spoligotype data points) concordant to those previously obtained by spoligoriftyping and membrane-based method. Compared to sequencing, the “SPRINT” method was 100% concordant for MTC (n =162 for rpoB gene sequencing and n =76 for katG and inhA sequencing) rifampicin and isoniazid resistance associated mutations detection (targeted mutations). Considering the phenotypic DST as referencetest,thesensitivity/specificityof“SPRINT” regarding MTBC (n= 162 isolates) rifampicin and isoniazid resistance were respectively 100% /100% and 90.4% (CI95% = 85-95%) /100%. used routinely in national reference laboratories and where culture is available, the “SPRINT” test should improve TB diagnostic, patients’ personalized treatment and allow real-time epidemiological investigations and monitoring. This method could play an increasingly important role for public health in the countries with an heavy burden of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and/or HIv/TB co-infection. Progress towards fast XDR-TB detection using the same principles are in progress together to the use of “SPRINT” directly on clinical specimen. OP154 DEVELOPMENT OF AN In vITRO SYSTEM TO PERFORM TIME-KILL CURVES OF LEVOFLOxACIN AGAINST MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Aline Barth1, Robert May2, Judith Johnson2, Charles Peloquin1, Hartmut Derendorf 1 1 College of pharmacy – University of Florida, gainesville, USa 2 College of Medicine – University of Florida, gainesville, USa Multidrug-resistant TB present resistance to the most effective drugs and are treated with second line drugs (SLDs) that are more toxic and less effective. To evaluate the causes of the reduced effectiveness of levofloxacin (LEV), a main SLD, we developed an in vitro system that expose the microorganism to differentdrugconcentrationprofiles.Ouraimistouse this system to investigate the pharmacodynamics of LEv using the “dynamic time-kill curves”. Methods: In this model, a peristaltic pump continuously pumps fresh sterile broth into the main flask containing the microorganism, and a second pump removes the broth. A magnetic stir bar ensures homogeneity of the culture and prevents membrane pore blockage. The initial validation of the system was done with a single dose of LEv equivalent to the human1000mg dose administered in Middlebrook 7H9 broth and samples were collected over 24 hours. The objective was to verify if the human elimination profile could be mimicked. We also performed a 10 days study to evaluate the growth of the H37Ra strain (ATCC 25177) and the use of bovine calf serum (CS) instead of ADC as enrichment for the liquid broth, in order to reduce costs. After that, a control study was done over the course of 7 days using the system with no drug. A sample was drawn daily and serial dilutions were performed to calculate CFu/ml and growth curve. The MIC for the LEv was then established using 2 fold dilution. Results: TheeliminationprofileofLEVwasproperly emulated, as constant of elimination of 0.08h-1 was obtained (literature value 0.09h-1).The use of CS as a broth supplement provided reduced growth, and thereforeADCwasfurtherused.Thegrowthprofileof the microorganism within the system was obtained. The LEv MIC was established as 0.75 µg/mL. Conclusion: Our system was appropriately developed and it is capable of mimicking the human drug concentration profile. The attenuated strain is initially being used to ensure the safety. In future trials, we intend to use clinical strains. Our next steps are to use different drug doses that will correspond to multiples of the MIC values (0.5, 1 and 16 MIC) in order to create a mathematical model that correlates the pharmacodynamics with the pharmacokinetics, allowing to simulate and predict the LEv concentrations that optimize treatment, and to define the related doses. using this information it will be possible to simulate the effects of real world circumstances, i.e. missed doses, in vitro. The difference between this system and other techniques is the ability to change the environment in a controlled setting to monitor how the organism responds to different stimuli. OP212 RAPID TESTING FOR DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY Antonino Catanzaro1, Timothy Rodwell1, Camilla Rodrigues2, Valeriu Crudu3, Thomas Victor4, Kanchan Ajbani2, Elena Romancenco5, Andre Trollip4, Cindy Hayes6, Roberta Lynn Jackson1, Theodore Ganiats1, Erik Groessl1, Richard Garfein1 1 University of California, San Diego, USa 2 p.D. hinduja national hospital and Medical Research Center, Mumbai, India 3 Center for health policies and Studies (pas Center), Chisinau, Moldova 4 Stellenbosch University, Faculty of health Sciences Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South africa 5 The Institute of phthisiopneumology, Chisinau, Moldova 6 national health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South africa 49 Background: Standard phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) takes up to 3 months to identify XDRTB. The Global Consortium for Drug-Resistant TB Diagnostics (GCDD; funded by NIH Grant #5U01AI082229) was formed to develop and study rapid XDR-TB diagnostics in >1000 subjects at three clinical sites in Mumbai (India), Chisinau (Moldova) and Port Elizabeth (South Africa). Primary study aims include reducing XDR-TB detection time to a week and determining agreement between rapid tests and standard DST. Preliminary results are presented. Methods: TB patients with risk factors for drugresistance were recruited from 3 multinational sites. We performed AFB smear, MGIT960 culture and DST, pyrosequencing (PSQ), line probe assay (LPA) and MODS assays. We evaluated resistance to the TB drugs isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF), moxifloxacin (MOX), ofloxacin (OFX), amikacin (AMK), capreomycin (CAP) and kanamycin (KAN). Results: Preliminary results based on samples from ~650 subjects collected between 2012 and 2013 are presented. Preliminary data for the MGIT DST indicated a median time-to-result (TTR) of 25 days (n=484). Median TTR for the MODS assay was 15 days (n=442), while PSQ was only 8 days (n=606) and Hain LPA (plus and sl) was 5 days (n=641). Rapid test accuracy was compared to MGIT960 DST as the Gold Standard. For the MODS test (N=288290) INH sensitivity and specificity were 95% and 99%; RIF sensitivity and specificity were 99% & 95%; MOX sensitivity and specificity were 98% & 97%;OFX sensitivity and specificity were 98% & 98%. AMK sensitivity and specificity were 86% & 100%; CAP sensitivity and specificity were 95% & 99%; KAN sensitivity and specificity were 48% & 100%. For the PSQ assay (N= 346-360) INH sensitivity and specificity were 96% & 96%; RIF sensitivity and specificity were 97% & 98%; MOX sensitivity and specificity were 95% & 96%; and OFX sensitivity and specificity were 95% & 98%. AMK sensitivity and specificity were 86% & 99%; CAP sensitivity and specificity were 85% & 99%; KAN sensitivity and specificity were 48% & 99%. For the Hain MTBDRplus LPA (N=399-409) INH sensitivity and specificity were 95% & 99%; RIF sensitivity and specificity were 98% & 94%. For the Hain MTBDRsl LPA (N=334-360) MOX sensitivity and specificity were 95% & 97% and OFX sensitivity and specificity were 95% & 98%. AMK sensitivity and specificity were 79% & 100%; CAP sensitivity and specificity were 85% & 99%; KAN sensitivity and specificity were 40% & 100%. Concordance with MGIT DST was MODS: INH 96%; RIF 98%; MOX/OFX 98%; AMK and CAP 99%; KAN 91%. PSQ: INH 96%; RIF 97%; MOX 95% and OFX 96%; AMK and CAP 98%; KAN 92%; Hain LPA: INH 96%; RIF 97%; AMK and CAP 98%; KAN 92%; MOX 96% and OFX 97%. Conclusions: Our preliminary data indicate that rapid diagnostics reduced XDR-TB diagnosis time from months to days. Rapid results were highly sensitive and specific for INH, RIF and FQ resistance, but showed <90% sensitivity for injectable drugs. 50 MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST II OP229 KANAMYCIN, AMIKACIN, CAPREOMYCIN CROSS RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS ISOLATES FROM ROMANIA Daniela Homorodean1, Andrea Melinda Jodal1, Sven Hoffner2 1 Clinical hospital of pneumology Leon Daniello, national Reference, Laboratory, Cluj napoca, Romania 2 The Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Solna, Supranational Reference Laboratory Stockholm, Sweden The cross resistance between Kanamycin (KM), amikacin (AMK), capreomycin (CAP) among Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains is a subject of debate in the last years. In the first drug resistance survey of second line anti-tuberculosis drugs resistance among multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients in Romania (2009-2010), kanamycin resistant (KMr) strains and kanamycin-ofloxacin resistant strains prevalences were 27.8% and 11.4% respectively. CAP was not used in Romania before this survey. We aimed to assess the level of cross resistance between KM, AMK and CAP among Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from MDR-TB patients. Material and methods. For external quality control of the survey results, 72 randomly selected strains out of 756 clinical MDR isolates, were retested in Supranational TB Reference Laboratory in Sweden for the drugs tested in the survey (isoniazid, rifampicin, KMandofloxacin)andalsoforAMKandCAP. Results. Seventeen out of 72 (23.6%) strains were susceptible to KM, AMK, CAP; 34 (47.2%) strains were resistant to all this drugs; 7 (9.7%) strains were resistant to CAP and one aminoglycosid (KM in 2, and AMK in 5 cases). Five strains were resistant to one aminoglycosid but susceptible to CAP. Nine (12.5%) strains were resistant to only CAP. In ten out of 50 (20%) CAP resistant strains, the corresponding patients were not treated before with any aminoglycoside (KM, AMK, or streptomycin), and we consider these cases as initial CAPr. Conclusions. These results have diagnostic and therapeutic implications: a. Strains isolated from all MDR-TB patients should be tested for KM, AMK and CAP if all these agents are considered for therapy; b. Aminoglycosides should be used in therapeutic regimens of MDR-TB cases only after in vitro susceptibility test (genetic or phenotypic) results are available. OP243 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRENDS IN TB AND M/xDRTB AND PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONSOLIDATED ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT AND COMBAT M/xDR-TB IN THE WHO EUROPEAN REGION Kristin Kremer, Andrei Dadu, Martin van den Boom, Pierpaolo de Colombani, Masoud Dara Who Regional Office for Europe, Tuberculosis and M/XDR-TB programme, Copenhagen, Denmark In 2011, 295,968 out of the estimated 380,000 new TB cases were reported in the European Region and more than 44,000 deaths were attributed to TB. Since 2007, TB notification has been decreasing in the Region by an average of 5% per year. Among newly reported TB cases, the number of MDR-TB cases increased steadily from 4% in 2005 to 14% in 2011. Of an estimated 78,000 MDR-TB cases, about 30,000 (38%) were detected in 2011, with the large majority (98%) reported in the 18 high TB priority countries. The prevalence of MDR-TB among previously treated TB patients was 47.7% in 2011. The HIv prevalence among incident TB cases increased from 2.8% in 2006 to 6.4% in 2011. Since the endorsement of the Consolidated Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Multidrug- and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB) in the WHO European Region 2011–2015 and the adoption of its accompanying resolution by the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in September 2011, most of the milestones outlined in the action plan have been met. Key achievements include the establishment of the European Green Light Committee (GLC), along with the provision of state of the art technical assistance to Member States on MDR-TB, and the launch of the European TB Laboratory Initiative (ELI) to scale up quality diagnosis. Task forces have also been established to update Member States’ knowledge of childhood TB, to consider the role of surgery in TB, to develop a consensus document on cross-border TB control and care, and to assess and address the health system and social determinants of TB in line with Health 2020. Despite having tripled since the endorsement of the Action Plan, coverage of second line drug susceptibility testing (DST) among MDR-TB cases tested for second line drugs is still only 12%. The DST results showed that up to 11% of all MDR-TB cases are extensively drug resistant. Treatment coverage for MDR-TB patients increased from 63% of estimated MDR-TB patients in 2011, to 96% in 2013, however, treatment outcome is 51 below the 75% target (48.5%) because of the lack ofefficientmedicines,poorprogrammeperformance and inadequate patient-centred approaches, as well as the lack of a mechanism for cross-border TB care. Of the 15 countries with a high MDR-TB burden, nine had achieved universal access to MDR-TB treatment and care by January 2013. However, gaps persist in some Member States with patients still on waiting lists to receive treatment. OP244 EMERGENCE OF xDR IN HIGH BURDEN MDRTB COUNTRY: A THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND TB CONTROL PROGRAM Elena Romancenco1, Valeriu Crudu2, Ecaterina Noroc3, Nadejda Turcanu3, Liliana Domente3, Sofia Alexandru3 1 State Medical and pharmaceutical University, Chisinau, Moldova 2 Center for health policies and Studies (pas Center); Phthsisiopneumology Institute, Chisinau, Moldova 3 The Institute of phthisiopneumology, Chisinau, Moldova Background: Emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDRTB) is a threat to public health and National TB Control Program in high burden MDRTB country. Tuberculosis resistance represents a serious obstacle to effective TB control in Moldova. The results of drug resistance surveillance (DRS) can reflecttheindicatorsofTBcontrolprogrammeefficacy.MDR&XDRTBisoneofthemaincausesofineffective treatment of TB cases. The aim of the study: to estimate the trends of TB drug resistance in Moldova during the period of 2006-2011. TheresultsofDRStofistandsecondlineTBdrugsamong new and previously treated TB cases were studied. Methods: DRS included all isolates from new patients diagnosed with pulmonary TB during the last 7 years. The DST was performed in the National TB Reference Laboratory and three Regional Tuberculosis Reference Laboratories. Results: The prevalence of the TB resistance increased considerably during the last period. In the performed study it was analysis results of DRS from 7240 TB New Cases and 6997 previously treated TB cases. The level of primary drug resistance has been increased from 42,0% to 49,2% during this period, and MDR TB from 19,4% to 29,2%. Among previously treated patients the level of MDRTB increase from 50,8% up to 63,4%. Trough patients with MDRTB detectedin2011the13,8%wereidentifiedwithextensively drug resistance. The level of XDRTB increases considerable during the last two years. In 2010-2011 the level of XDR among MDRTB patients was 10,0% and 13,8% (in 2007- 6.9%). The highest resistance to second line TB drugs was detecting to 52 Kanamycin and Ofloxacin – 18,0% and 11,6%. Conclusion: At the current stage the TB drug resistance is a serious problem in the R.Moldova, having serious public health and economic consequences. Theincreasenumberofresistantcasesinfluencesof the treatment results. The accumulation of a greater number of resistant strains in society can lead to the infection of population and increase the number of TB resistant cases. The additionally, new measured need to be implemented urgently for stopped this situation. OP96 MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BEIJING GENOTYPE STRAINS ARE CAPABLE OF RESISTING TRANSIENT ExPOSURE TO RIFAMPICIN, AS STUDIED IN A NOVEL MICROCOLONY APPROACH Alice den Hertog1, Sandra Menting1, Dick van Soolingen2, Richard Anthony1 1 Kit Biomedical Research, Royal Tropical Institute, amsterdam, netherlands 2 national Institute for public health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands; Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University nijmegen Medical Centre, nijmegen, The netherlands using a culture method developed in which individual microcolonies are monitored over time and growing colonies can be moved from one solid medium to another, we investigated the effect of transient exposure to RIF on colony growth rate and post antibiotic outgrowth on a panel of tuberculosis strains of the Beijing and East-African Indian (EAI) genotypes. In total 36,408 colonies were investigated. We have found that after exposure to 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 mg/L RIF for 4 hours, the growth of colonies from the non Beijing strains studied (2 EAI strains and H37Ra) was almost completely inhibited during the first5daysafterexposure.Incontrastthe6Beijing genotype strains studied showed residual growth of the majority of colonies monitored in this period. Thus, the Beijing colonies were more capable of persisting growth during exposure to low concentrations of RIF. We believe that the persistent slow replication of the Beijing strains in the presence of low concentrations of RIF may allow the generation of mutants post exposure in stressed cells. These observations may help explain the association of Beijing genotype with drug resistance and relapse, as the drug levels achieved during treatment may be much more critical with respect to preventing the accumulation of RIF resistant mutants for these strains than for other genotypes. The microcolony method is highly promising for fast phenotypic resistance testing. NEW THERAPEUTIC REGIMENS FOR TB AND MDR-TB OP46 ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS ACTIVITY OF EFFLUx INHIBITORS AGAINST DRUG RESISTANT MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Diana Machado1, Isabel Couto2, Jorge Ramos1, Miguel Viveiros1 1 grupo de Micobactérias, Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade nova de Lisboa (IhMT, UnL), Lisboa, portugal 2 grupo de Micobactérias, Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade nova de Lisboa (IHMT, UNL), Lisboa, Portugal; Centro de Recursos Microbiológicos (CREM), UnL, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade nova de Lisboa, Quinta da Torre, portugal The major mechanisms associated with drug resistance in M. tuberculosis involve mutations in target genes and increased efflux. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitroactivityofeffluxinhibitors(EIs) on the resistance levels of isoniazid (INH), evaluate changes in expression of EPs genes upon exposure to INH, and assessment of the bactericidal activity of the compounds. We tested seven M. tuberculosis strains:H37Rv,H37RvΔkatG, three multidrug resistant strains, and two INH monoresistant strains. The EIs assayed were verapamil, flupenthixol, haloperidol, chlorpromazine and thioridazine. The strains were characterized by standard antibiotic susceptibility testing and INH semi-quantitative susceptibility testing, in presence/absence of EIs, and genetic analysisofspecificregionsofthekatG, inhA and rpoB genes. The EIs ability to inhibit efflux was assayed by a real-time semi-automated method that detects the accumulation and extrusion of ethidium bromide (EtBr). The bactericidal activity of the compounds was investigated through time-kill studies. The expression level of genes coding EPs (Rv1217c-Rv1218c, mmpl7, Rv1258c, Rv1410c, efpA, mmr, Rv2459c and pstB) was determined by qRT-PCR. The results shown that i) INH resistance levels can be reduced from high to low level in presence of EIs; ii) verapamil was the EI most effective in reducing the resistance toINH;iii)effluxofEtBrwasdetectedinallstrains;iv) verapamil was the EI with the highest inhibitory effect on real-time efflux of EtBr followed by flupenthixol, chlorpromazine, thioridazine and haloperidol, v) timekill studies show that the compounds are bactericidal, and vi) most of the EP genes tested were upregulated in response to INH exposure. In this work, we showed that inhibition of EPs by EIs lead to INH intracellular accumulation and increased susceptibility to this drug despite the presence of a mutation leading to resistance. Our results show that INH seems to act like an inducer that stimulates a general stress response and the different levels of resistance to INH are a balance between the induction of several EPs that regulate the intracellular level of INH and the mutation. The data presented evidences a possible therapeutic value for compounds that have the capacitytoinhibitmycobacterialeffluxpumpsviathe retention of co-administered anti-mycobacterial drugs thataresubjecttoefflux,suchasINH. OP66 ORAL PHENYLBUTYRATE AND VITAMIN D3 INDUCE THE CATHELICIDIN LL-37 IN IMMUNE CELLS: A DOSE FINDING STUDY FOR TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS Rubhana Raqib1, Akhirunnesa Mily1, Rokeya Rekha2 S.M. Mostafa Kamal3, Protim Sarker2, Zeaur Rahim1, Gudmundur Gudmundsson4, Birgitta Agerberth5 1 International Centre for Dirrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh 2 International Centre for Dirrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh; Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 3 national Institute of the Diseases of the Chest and hospital, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh 4 Institute of Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland 5 Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Background: We have shown earlier that 4-phenylbutyrate (PB) can induce cathelicidin LL-37 expression synergistically with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in a lung epithelial cell line. We aim to assess therapeutic doses of PB alone or in combination with vitamin D3 for induction of LL-37 expression in immune cells and enhancement of antimycobacterial activity in monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). Methods: Healthy volunteers were enrolled in an open trial. Three doses of PB [250 mg (Group-I), 500 mg (Group-II) or 1000 mg (Group-III)] twice daily (b.d.) together with vitamin D3 {5000 Iu once daily (o.d.)}, PB (500mg b.d.) (Group-Iv) or vitamin D3 (5000 Iu o.d.) (Group-v), were given orally for 4 days. Blood was collected on day-0, day-4 and day-8. Plasma was separated, MDM and non-adherent lymphocytes 53 were cultured. LL-37 transcript and peptide concentrations were determined by qPCR and ELISA, respectively. Concentration of 25-hydorxyvitamin D3 was determined by ELISA. MDM-mediated killing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) (H37Rv) was performed by conventional culture method. Results: MDM from Group-II showed increased concentration of LL-37 peptide and transcript at day-4 while Group-I showed increased transcript at day-4 and day-8 compared to day-0 (P<0.05). Both Group-I and -II showed higher levels of transcript on day-4 compared to Group-III and Group-v (P<0.035). Lymphocytes from Group-II showed increased induction of peptide on day-4 compared to Group-I and Group-Iv (P<0.05), while Group-Iv showed increased levels on day-8 compared to Group-I and Group-III (P<0.04). Intracellular killing of Mtb on day4 was significantly increased compared to day-0 in Group-I, -II and -v (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results demonstrate that 500mg b.d. PB with 5000 Iu o.d. vitamin D3 is the optimal dose for the induction of LL-37 (peptide and transcript) and intracellular killing of Mtb and this dose may have potential application in the treatment of TB. This dose is being used in a clinical trial of adults with active pulmonary TB (NCT01580007). OP225 STERILIZING ACTIVITY OF DRUG COMBINATIONS AGAINST ACTIVELY REPLICATING AND NONREPLICATING MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Giovanni Piccaro1, Federico Giannoni1, Donatella Pietraforte2, Alessandro Mustazzolu1, Lanfranco Fattorini1 1 Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento Di Malattie Infettive, parassitarie Ed Immunomediate, Rome, Italy 2 Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento Di Biologia Cellulare e neuroscienze, Rome, Italy Granulomas containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) stages ranging from actively replicating (AR) aerobic (A) bacilli to nonreplicating (NR) hypoxic (H) bacilli coexist in the lungs of TB patients, thus it is essential to find drug combinations killing AR+NR cells. NR cells can be generated by the dormancy Wayne model at pH=6.6, however this model may not mimic the environment of active lesions where pH is 5.5-6 or lower. To better mimic real conditions, we evaluated the activity of 10 drugs including rifampin (R), isoniazid (I), pyrazinamide (Z), ethambutol (E), amikacin (AK), moxifloxacin (MX) and the nitrocompounds PA-824 (PA), nitazoxanide (NZ), niclosamide (NC), metronidazole (MZ), alone and in combination, against AR bacilli (5-day-old cells: A5) and NR bacilli (5-, 12-, 19-day-old cells: H5, H12, H19),byamodifiedWaynemodelofMtbH37Rvat pH=5.8. Mtb viability of 7, 14, 21 day drug-exposed 54 cells was measured by both CFu and a much more sensitive method based on day-to-positivity (DTP) in the MGIT 960 system (MGIT). A combination was considered sterilizing if DTP was >100 days. In A cultures, CFu and pH rapidly increased, while in H cultures growth stopped and pH increased slightly. Isoniazid, a control drug killing only AR cells, was active against A5 (aerobic) cells, low active against H5, slowly replicating (microaerophilic) cells, and inactive against H12 and H19 (anaerobic) cells; MZ was active only against H12 and H19 cells. MX and AK were active against A5 and H5 cells while R, NZ, PA were active against A5, H5, H12, H19 cells. To kill all A+H cells, the 3-drug combination R+MX+AK was potentiated by adding a fourth drug (PA, NZ, NC, MZ), in comparison with R+I+Z+E, used for human therapy. Among six R+MX+AK-containing combinations tested, R+MX+AK+PA was the only one killing A5, H5, H12, H19 cells in 14 days, as shown by lack of CFus and of re-growth in MGIT (DTP >100 days) after drug exposure. All other combinations including R+I+Z+E killedall4populationsin≥21days.Toverifywhether free radicals can be involved in R+MX+AK+PA sterilization, reactive oxidizing species generated by single drugs were determined by electron paramagnetic resonance. In conclusion, we found a new combination more potent than R+I+Z+E killing all aerobes, microaerophiles, anaerobes and persisters potentially living in granulomas. Overall, our Wayne model of acidity+hypoxia should be considered when studying activity of new drug combinations against Mtb. NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA OP64 WHAT IS THE ROLE OF HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER IN MYCOBACTERIAL DRUG RESISTANCE AND VIRULENCE? Sylvia Cardoso Leão1, Katiane Santin1, Christiane Lourenco Nogueira1, Paulo Jose Martins Bispo1, Cristianne Kayoko Matsumoto2 1 Universidade Federal de São paulo, Escola paulista de Medicina, São paulo, Brazil 2 Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e parasitologia, Universidade Federal de São paulo, Escola paulista de Medicina, São paulo, Brazil Introduction: A nationwide outbreak of mycobacterial surgical infections in Brazil (2004-2008) was caused by a single strain of Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii harbouring a ~60-kbp circular plasmid of the broad-host-range IncP-1β subgroup. The plasmid, pMAB01, was successfully transferred to Escherichia coli by conjugation and transformation. Genomic sequencing showed that pMAB01 contains a complete system for conjugative DNA transfer and two genetic load regions carrying antimicrobial resistance genes, including the Tn5393c streptomycin-resistance (str) transposon and a typical class 1 integron with an incorporated gene cassette encoding an aminoglycoside 6’-N-acetyltransferase (aac(6’)-Ib), the dihydropteroate synthase type-1 gene (sul1), and a conserved orf (orf5) that encodes a GCN5like N-acetyltransferase. Here we investigated the contribution of this plasmid to drug resistance in M. abscessus and E. coli. Material and Methods: We evaluated the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of streptomycin (STR), kanamycin (KAN), tobramycin (TOB), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) against the M. abscessus subsp. bolletii outbreak strain and E. coli K12, harbouring or not pMAB01. The standard method was performed according to CLSI guidelines. Results and Discussion: MICs (µg/ml) of M. abscessus subsp. bolletii harbouring pMAB01 were >64 for STR, >64 for KAN, 32 for TOB and >32/608 for STX. MICs of the cured mycobacterium were 64 for STR, 8 for KAN, 16 for TOB and 8/152 for STX. MICs of E. coli transformed with pMAB01 and E. coli transconjugants were >64 for STR, >64 for KAN, 64 for TOBand≤0.25/9.5forSTX.MICsofwildtypeE. coli were4forSTR,2forKAN,1forTOBand≤0.25/9.5 for STX. In M. abscessus the plasmid contributed to KAN resistance, but not to STR and TOB resistance. MIC for STX was two doubling dilutions higher in M. abscessus harbouring the plasmid than in M. abscessus lacking it, but both were resistant to STX. E. coli harbouring pMAB01 became resistant to KAN, STR and TOB, but not to STX, suggesting that the sul1 gene may be non-functional in E. coli. Conclusions: Genetic exchange, especially the acquisition of drug-resistance promiscuous plasmids, couldresultintheemergenceofspecificmycobacterial strains with altered resistance profiles, which might be better adapted to cause human disease. OP75 MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM CLINICAL STRAINS FROM ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Daria Starkova1, Tatiana Otten2, Igor Mokrousov1, Anna Vyazovaya1, Boris Vishnevskiy2, Olga Narvskaya1 1 St. petersburg pasteur Institute, St. petersburg, Russia 2 Research Institute of phthisiopulmonology, St. petersburg, Russia Background: Mycobacterium avium is a typical environmental nontuberculosis microorganism occasionally causing mycobacteriosis, an infection of wild and domestic animals, birds, and humans. In recent 10 years, a steady increase in a number of laboratory confirmed new cases of mycobacteriosis particularly in HIv-positive patients has been observed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Goal. Molecular identification and the first insight to genetic diversity of M. avium strains isolated from 107 patients (including 32 HIv-positive) with mycobacteriosis in Saint-Petersburg (20082011). Design/Methods: A total of 107 human mycobacteria isolates were cultured from individual patients. Molecular identification of M. avium isolates was based on the BstEII and HaeIII PCR-RFLP analysis of hsp65 gene. The PCR-based detection of IS901 and IS900 was used to distinguish among M. avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH), avium, paratuberculosis, and silvaticum strains. Reference strains ATCC 35712 and M. avium paratuberculosis were included as positive controls. The genetic diversity of M. avium isolates was studied by vNTR-typing based on 8 vNTR loci: 292, X3, 25, 47, 3, 7, 10 and 32 (Thibault et al., 2007) and additional 12 MATR loci (Inagaki et al., 2009). The Hunter-Gaston Discrimination Index (HGDI) was used to assess the discriminatory power of vNTR-typing. A Neighbour Joining (NJ) tree based on 20 loci MATR-VNTR profiles was generated by using algorhythm http://www.miru-vntrplus.org. Results: The assignment of 107 human 55 mycobacteria isolates to M. avium based on routine biochemical tests was confirmed by RFLP analysis of the hsp65 gene. All M. avium isolates were IS901- and IS900- negative and thus they were assigned to MAH. The vNTR-typing based on 8- and 12-polymorphic loci allowed for the detection of 39 patterns among 107 MAH isolates. The 27 isolates had unique vNTR patterns and 80 isolates grouped into 12 clusters. The three major genotypes were: 22221128223134532443, 24221128213134532443, and 2533112’8423132432222 including 44 (41.1%), 8 (7.5%), and 7 (6.5%) isolates, respectively. The 7 strains of the cluster 2533112’8423132432222 possessed a truncated locus TR10 (allele 2´) due to the15bpdeletioninthefirstoftwotandemrepeats (GenBank accession no. Jq918769.1). Nine clusters included 2-4 isolates. The highest HGDI values for the particular loci were as follows: 0.61 (TRX3), 0.53 (MATR-11), 0.362 (TR25, MATR-4), 0.35 (MATR-14 and MATR15); loci 3, 7 and 13 were monomorphic. The NJ tree (PAuP* package) based on 20 loci showed that recently evolved vNTR-types were predominant in the MAH population studied and no association between M. avium vNTR type and HIv status of patient was observed. Conclusions: Taking into account the diversity of HGDI values for the particular vNTR loci the improved vNTR-typing scheme of Russian MAH isolates of different origin is underway. OP113 WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING PROVIDES EVIDENCE FOR TRANSMISSION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM aBSCESSUS BETWEEN CYSTIC FIBROSIS PATIENTS Josephine M. Bryant1, Dorothy M. Grogono2,3,4,, Daniel Greaves4, Juliet Foweraker3,5, Iain Roddick6, Thomas Inns7, Mark Reacher6, Charles S. Haworth3, Martin D. Curran5, Simon R. Harris1, Sharon J. Peacock4, Julian Parkhill1, R. Andres Floto2,3,4. 1 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, hinxton, UK 2 Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, UK 3 Cambridge Centre for Lung Infection, papworth hospital, Cambridge, UK 4 Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 5 health protection agency, addenbrooke’s hospital, Cambridge, UK 5 hpa health protection agency East of England Regional Epidemiology Unit, UK 7 hpa, norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire health protection Unit, UK Mycobacterium abscessus, an opportunistic pathogen, is increasingly being isolated from cystic fibrosispatientsworldwide.Thismulti-drugresistant organism is particularly difficult to treat leading to 56 chronic infection and an accelerated decline in lung function. Prior evidence suggests acquisition is primarily from the environment with an absence of patient-patient transmission. Whole genome sequencing was carried out on 168 samples collected from 31 CF patients attending Papworth hospital overa4-yearperiod.Thephylogenyidentifiedthree sub-species of M. abcessus present in the patient group. Within each subgroup, different patients had acquired highly diverse strains indicating independent acquisition from the environment. Some clustering of strains between patients was evident, and two levels could be discerned; highly-related clusters with different patient samples identical or near-identical; and more distantly-related clusters with patient samples differing by approximately 50-200 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Epidemiological links consistent with recent transmission were identified inthefirstbutnotthesecond.Weconcludethatthis data provides the first convincing evidence for both recent transmission within the CF centre, and the presence of two dominant circulating clones. The exact mechanism of both transmission mechanisms is yet to be determined, however the strict infectioncontrol procedures imposed and our epidemiological analysis suggests that it is indirect. OP159 EMERGENCE OF CLINICALLY RELEVANT NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA Bright Varghese1, Ziad Memish2, Naela Abouljadayel2, Raafat Al-Hakeem2, Fahad Alrabiah3, Sahal Al-Hajoj Al-Nakhli1 1 Mycobacteriology Research Section, Department of Infection and Immunity, King Faisal Specialist hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi arabia 2 Ministry of health, Riyadh, Saudi arabia 3 Department of Medicine, King Faisal Specialist hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi arabia Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) are emerging around the world due to the higher prevalence of immunosuppressive illness and therapy. Saudi Arabia is not an exception as there have been novel mycobacterial species also identified recently. In addition the availability of several case reports from different parts of the country suggested the growing pathogenicpotentialofNTM.Asthefirstnationwide study we sought to gain an insight into the species diversity of NTM clinical isolates. During 2009- 2010, 95 clinical isolates were collected from tuberculosis reference laboratories of major provinces of Saudi Arabia and subjected to standardized line probe assay techniques to identify the species. Diagnostic guidelines of the American Thoracic Society were applied to determine the clinical relevance of respiratory isolates. Species diversity (13 species) was very high in the study and majorly (61.0%) consisted of rapid growing NTM’s. The major species obtained were Mycobacterium abscessus, M. fortuitum, M.intracellulare followed by M. kansassi, M. gordanae and M. avium. Of the total, 67.1% were clinically relevant respiratory infections, 23.2% were non-respiratory cases and 9.7% were respiratory colonizers respectively. Coexisting illness was reported in 53.7% of the studied cases. The major risk factors observed among the patients were previous history of tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorderandhumanimmunodeficiencyvirusinfection. Thehighrateofclinicallyconfirmedrespiratorycases showed that the NTM infections are indeed a new challenge to health authorities. Interesting enough, thecurrentfindingsareshowinganoppositepicture of the Western world where M. avium complex and slow growing NTM’s being the most predominant non tuberculous mycobacterial respiratory pathogen. The complexity of species demands an immediate strengthening of current diagnostic facilities to a more advanced level in the country. IGRA AND LATENT TB OP185 DORMANCY AND RESUSCITATION IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Barbara Tizzano1, Matthias Wilmanns2, Stefan Niemann1 1 Research Institute Borstel, Department of Molecular Mycobacteriology, Borstel, germany 2 European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) hamburg, notkestrasse 85, hamburg, germany Mycobacterium tuberculosis has the ability to survive in humans for decades without causing clinical symptoms. The “control” of Mtb infection involves the formation of granulomatous structures where bacilli remain viable but in a “dormant” state under limiting nutrient and oxygen conditions. Although survival of the bacterium in a dormant state is crucial for tb disease and transmission to another host, little is known about the pathobiological mechanism involved. Previous reports point at proteinaceous factors denoted as Resuscitation-promoting factors (Rpfs) as reactivation triggers. However, no systematic study is available on the activity of these proteins on different clinical isolates. Our work employed a panel of clinical isolates belonging to different phylogenetic branches to set up the Wayne model for hypoxia-induced dormancy. The aim of our studies was to provide a wider overview of the non-replicating persistence stateandtoenlightenlineage-specificdifferencesin the dormancy shiftdown process. Further goal of our workwastocorrelatedifferentstrainstostrain-specific reactivation responses and to identify transcriptional changes occurring in early stages of resuscitation. Asafirststep,wesetupamodifieddormancymodel optimized for medium throughput investigation of clinical isolates. After testing several media and growth conditions, dormancy experiments have been successfully carried out with laboratory strain H37Rv and a clinical isolate of the Haarlem lineage. Both strains showed the typical growth curve (obtained by OD and confirmed by c.f.u.) with Non-ReplicatingPersistence stages NRP1 and NRP2. Subsequently, the effect of resuscitation promoting factor RpfB was tested by treating “dormant” cultures with different concentrations of the protein. Both strains showed a faster resuscitation in response to RpfB. In order to perform transcriptome analysis on bacteria during the shifdown in the dormant state, RNA was isolated over different time points. More clinical strains are currently under investigation. In conclusion, we have set up a dormancy model that allows in depth investigation of pathobiological mechanism involved in dormancy and resuscitation. First results indicate that clinical isolates are able to survive the anaerobic conditions leading to the dormant state and they recover their ability to grow and divide after treatment with RpfB. Transcriptome 57 analysis is expected to provide a comprehensive in depth view on gene regulation networks involved in the resuscitation process in clinical MTBC isolates. OP234 IMMUNOLOGICAL FEATURES IN CHILDREN WITH TUBERCULOSIS Anna Starshinova, Natalia Korneva, Julia Ovchinnikova, Olga Yakunova, Elena Potapenko, Irina Dovgaluk Research Institute of phthisiopulmonology, St. petersburg, Russia Objectives: to reveal features of immunological parameters in children with tuberculosis Materials and methods: 213 patients 3 – 14 years old were examined during 2010-2012 in the children’s department of Saint-Petersburg Institute for Phthisiopulmonology. TB diagnosis was decided based on clinical and X-ray symptoms. After computer tomography examination (CT) patients were divided in two groups: I (n=70) – MBT infected without TB manifestation (control group); II (n=143) – with TB of intrathoracic lymph nodes. Immunological examination included: quantiFERON®-TB Gold IT (qFT-G), Diaskintest (recombinant tuberculosis allergen based on M. tuberculosisspecificproteins:ESAT-6andCFP10) (DST) – immunological skin-test, tuberculin skin test (TT), assessment of leucocytes’ subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4 +/CD3+, CD8+, CD16+, CD20+, CD25+, CD95+,HLAII),cytokines-induced(TNF-ά,IL2,IL-4,INF-γ),tbcspecificIgA,IgG,IgM(Anda-tb). Results: TT in the I group was: <10mm -15.7%, 1015mm- 64.3% (р=0,05, χ2=4.61), 15mm> 20.0%; in the II group was: <10mm -9.1%, 10-15mm- 48.9%, 15mm>42.0%(р=0,01,χ2=9.96). Rate of qFT-G test positive results was significantly higher for children withTB(II)(р=0,01)(76.9%ofcases(II)vs.30.0%of cases(I));DSTpositiveresultswassignificantlyhigher forchildrenwithTB(II)aswell(р=0.001)(84.4%of cases (II) vs. 41.5% of cases (I). Level of CD16+ in the II group(58.5%(II)vs.2.4%(I),р<0,001, χ2=38,74)was significantlyhighercomparedtothecontrolgroup(I). Itwasnotidentifiedstatisticallysignificantdifference inthetitersofspecificantibodiesbetweengroups.In both groups the levels of cytokines-induced IL-2 (I -238,90±24,3; II -223,05±30,33), IL-4 (I - 1,61±0,12; II-1,75±0,19)andIFN-γ(I-20454,13±1314,57;II- 19082,95±1723,69) were higher normal ranges. Conclusions: children with tuberculosis are characterized by higher level of TT, positive qFT-G, Diaskintest, higher level of CD16+ which may be considered thereby as the most informative immunological tests for TB disease diagnosis in children. VereMTBTM Lab-on-Chip for the Detection and Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, MDR-TB and 9 clinically relevant mycobacterium strains Single test. Results in less than 3 hours. Come visit us at our booth for more information Email: [email protected] Website: www.vereduslabs.com ABSTRACTS OF POSTER PRESENTATIONS (P) M. TUBERCULOSIS GENOMICS P24 P42 FITNESS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS WITH MUTATIONS IN THE RPSL, RRS, GIDB AND RPOB GENES DECIPHERING THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE M. TUBERCULOSIS LATIN AMERICANMEDITERRANEAN (LAM) GENOTYPE Fernanda Spies1, Andrea Von Groll1, Andrezza Ribeiro2, Daniela Ramos1, Marta Ribeiro3, Anandi Martin4, Juan Carlos Palomino4, Maria Lucia Rossetti2, Pedro Almeida da Silva1, Arnaldo Zaha2 1 Universidade Federal Do Rio grande, Rio grande, Brasil 2 Universidade Federal Do Rio grande Do Sul, porto allegre, Brasil 3 Fundação Estadual para produção e pesquisa em Saúde, porto allegre, Brasil 4 University of gent, gent, Belgium Anzaan Dippenaar, Rob Warren, Nico Gey van Pittius Stellenbosch University, Faculty of health Sciences Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South africa Background: It is often assumed that drugresistant microorganisms pay a physiological cost for the acquisition of drug resistance. In this study to investigate fitness and drug resistance, we selected 78 M. tuberculosis strains obtained from southern Brazilian patients during the period 20052006. The strains were from different lineages, and have different resistance profiles and mutations in the rpsL, rrs, gidB and rpoB genes. We evaluated two parameters, namely the growth curves and the growth in competition. Results: Strains with mutation K43R in rpsL had no difference in growth compared to the susceptible strains with no mutations and the strains with mutation S531L in rpoB grew even faster than the susceptible strains in the logarithmic phase of growth. In the competitions assays, between the studied strains, the susceptible strains always grew better than the drug-resistant strains. We also studied the different lineages, and according to the growth curves the LAM strains grew slower than the non-LAM in the lag phase but the difference in the growth index was not statistically significant. During the competitions the non-LAM strains produced more CFus than the LAM strains, suggesting that LAM strains could be more frequent due to a putative adaptation to Brazilian population rather than this genotype confer an advantage for growth. Conclusion: Our results suggest that heterogeneity in fitnessisinfunctionofthedrug-resistancemutations and the strain genetic background. Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains which have evolved over the past 40 000 years can be grouped into different lineages, sublineages and strains by standardised genotyping methods. The Latin American-Mediterranean (LAM) genotype causes approximately 15 % of tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide and is the major cause of TB in Southern Africa and South America. The frequency at which different strains occur in these regions is thought to reflect a combination of host-pathogen compatibility and virulence. Hypothesis: The pathophysiological characteristics of members of the LAM genotype correspond to changes in the proteome as a result of altered gene expression derived from genomic polymorphisms. Aim: To identify genetic differences in a selection of M. tuberculosis strains that will provide a platform for the elucidation of phenotypic variation among members of the LAM genotype. Methods: DNA from M. tuberculosis clinical isolates were subjected to whole genome sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq2000 platform, using a pairedend approach, with 500 base fragment sizes which results in insert sizes between 350 and 550 bases. Whole genome sequences from 11 M. tuberculosis strains representing six different sublineages of the LAM genotype were analysed and 33 non-LAM strains were compared to the reference strain H37Rv. A combination of open source software packages was used with optimised parameters, together with in-house developed scripts to compile a customised pipeline for the analysis of mycobacterial genomes, with specific focus on variant calling. The depth of coverage for all the isolates was above 100. This, together with high quality sequencing data, ensured a highlevelofconfidenceforidentifyingvariationinthe genomes of interest. Phylogenetic reconstructions were done using open source model selection- and computational phylogeny software packages. Results: Thiscomparativegenomicsstudyidentified 59 a total number of 10 675 SNPs in 44 strains of M. tuberculosis analysed. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on these SNPs were congruent with the previously described principle genetic groups 1,2 and 3,whilethephylogenyoftheLAMgenotypeidentified showedthepresenceofthe6sublineagesasdefined by IS6110 RFLP analysis. Conclusion: This is the first comprehensive reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships focussing on the LAM genotype of M. tuberculosis. This study provides the basis for understanding the genotype and phenotype of the LAM genotype of M. tuberculosis Novel insight into the phylogenetic history and the biology of virulence and pathogenicity of this group will provide opportunity for the identification of new drug and vaccine targets as well as providing potential novel genetic markers for this prevalent group of strains. P44 CHARACTERIZATION OF ExTENSIVELY DRUGRESISTANT MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN SIBERIA Maya Dymova1, Olga Alkhovik2, Andrey Cherednichenko2, Tatyana Petrenko2, Maxim Filipenko1 1 Siberian Branch Russian academy of Science, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, novosibirsk, Russia 2 The Ministry of health and Social Development, novosibirsk Tb Research Institute, novosibirsk, Russia The emergence of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is widely considered a serious threat to global TB control. Although molecular characterization of drug resistance-associated mutations in multidrug-resistant isolates in Siberia has been made, mutations in XDR isolates and their genotypes have not been reported previously. In this study,weidentifiedandcharacterized29extensively drug resistance Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from clinical isolates in Siberia. The most prevalent mutationsinvolvedinisoniazid,rifampicin,ofloxacin, streptomycin resistance were Ser315Thr in katG gene, Ser531Leu in rpoB gene, Asp94Gly in gyrA gene, Lys43Arg in rpsL gene, Glu92Asp in gidB gene respectively. vNTR – typing and deligotyping revealed that 93% belonged to Beijing family, 11 of them belonged to highly virulent type M11 (39.2 %). We also found two isolates belonged to LAM family, the second most common family in Russia, as well as Beijing-associated to multi drug resistance. Due to theepidemiologicalsignificanceofbothfamiliesitcan be recommended deligotyping as a method of use for prescreening, and then vNTR-typing, for a more detailed differentiation of isolates M. tuberculosis. Our result highlights the need to reinforce the TB 60 policy in Siberia with regard to control and detection strategies. P90 LABEL-FREE AND MULTIPLExED ELECTROCHEMICAL DETECTION OF PCR FRAGMENTS ON SCREEN-PRINTED ELECTRODE ARRAYS. APPLICATION TO SPOLIGOTYPING OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Viet Hai Le1, Steeve Reisberg1, Michel Gomgnimbou2, Christophe Sola3, Minh Chau PHAM1, Benoit Piro1 1 Université paris-Diderot, Sorbonne paris Cité, paris, France 2 Université paris-Sud-Cnrs, Umr8621, Institut de génétique et Microbiologie, the Infection, genetics, Emerging pathogens (Igepe) Team, Orsay, France 3 Université paris-Sud-Cnrs, Institut de génétique et Microbiologie, Infection genetics Emerging pathogen Evolution Team, Orsay, France This work presents the development of a DNA electrochemical biosensor based on label-free and signal-on hybridization detection. Electrodes were modifiedbyanelectroactiveultrathinfilmobtainedby co-electro-grafting of a mixture of diazonium salts (3-aminothiophenol-5-hydroxy-1,4-naphtoquinoneJug-Ph and 4-aminobenzoic acid-Ph-CooH). Oligonucleotide capture probes modified on their 5’ end with an amino group were covalently grafted on the Ph-COOH functions, while the Jug-Ph groups were used as the redox transducers, which translate hybridization into changes in current. These changes were monitored using square wave voltammetry (SWv). Results showed very good reproducibility, excellent selectivity (discrimination of a SNP) and sensitivity (10 pM), not only with synthetic oligonucleotides targets, but also with PCR products. Electrodes have been implemented in a network of 81 independent screenprinted electrodes for application to a specific case: theidentificationofcladesofM. tuberculosis via the direct electrochemical detection of 43 sequences, amplified by PCR, constituting the CRISPR locus of this bacterium (spoligotyping method). The array isimplementedaspartofaflowcellandconnected to a multiplexing system enabling a potentiostat to sequentially address each of the electrodes. A series of electrochemistry experiments which previously could take several tens of hours is now reduced to a few minutes. Strains of different lineages were investigated: M. africanum, Beijing, LAM, S, EAI. It is shown that current intensity changes are specific to the target sequence, that is of the lineage and strain from which is produced the CRISPR-PCR product. The identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis at the sub-lineage level could in some cases be considered as a surrogate marker of tuberculosis drug resistance and be important both for patient treatment choice and outcome as well as for public health.[1] q.D. Zhang, G. March, v. Noël, B. Piro, S. Reisberg, L.D. Tran, L.v. Hai, E. Abadia, P.E. Nielsen, C. Sola, M.C. Pham, Biosensors and Bioelectronics (2012) 32, 163–168 P94 MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx SUBSPECIES IN PROVINCE OF MODENA, ITALY Giulia Fregni Serpini1, Sara Tagliazucchi1, Giulia Forbicini1, Nadia Nanni1, Rita Magnani1, Anna Fabio1, William Gennari1, Anna Maria Teresa Sabbatini1, Antonella Grottola2, Monica Pecorari1 1 Microbiology and virology Unit, Modena University hospital, Modena, Italy 2 University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) include the subspecies M. tuberculosis, M. africanum, M. microti, M. bovis, M. bovis BCG, M. caprae, M. canettii and M. pinnipedii that are characterized by high similarity (99,9%) at the nucleotide level and identical 16S rDNA sequences. Nevertheless, each of the MTC subspecies is known to infect humans even if they show different pathogenicity and drugs susceptibility. Therefore, the identification of clinical MTC isolates at the subspecies level is required in order to collect informations to enable appropriate patient treatment and public health measures. The biochemical tests of MTC don’t allow the subspecies’sidentification,thereforeitneedstouse molecular methods. The molecular tests based on commercial probes used for diagnosis routinely don’t recognize all subspecies. The PCR-based MTC typing method using chromosomal Regions-of-Difference (RD4/Rv1510, RD7/Rv1970, RD1/Rv3877-Rv3878, RD9/Rv2073c, RD12/Rv3120) and specific genic loci (16S rRNA, cfp35/Rv0577, IS1561) has been described by Huard and others. This method allows theidentificationofMTCsubspeciesonthebasisof theamplificationpatternsobtained. The aim of this study is to distinguish the subspecies in MTC drug-resistant strains isolated in the laboratory of Microbiology and virology of Modena, Italy, between 2008 and 2012. For this purpose, we considered 35 MTC drug resistant strains comprising 25 (71,4%) monoresistant to isoniazid (INH) and 10 (28,6%) multi-drug-resistant (MDR). Among the INH resistant strains 23 (92%) were identifiedasM. tuberculosis. Out of these, 20 showed the presence of all the RDs, while 3 strains showed each the lack of one target amplicon, specifically RD7, RD1 and IS1561. Finally2strains(8%)wereidentifiedas M. africanum, in particular one of these was found to be M. africanum subtype Ia ( West African 2) for the absence of the RD7 and RD9 target amplicons and the other strain M. africanum subtype Ib ( West African 1) for the absence of the only RD9. All the MDR strains were identified as M. tuberculosis. Nine of these showed all RDs while one was lacking of the RD1 target amplicon. The lack of RD7 and IS1561 target amplicons in M. tuberculosis strains was previously described by other authors while the absence of RD1 target amplicon remains to be characterize. Further investigations will be required to delineate the phylogeny of our M. tuberculosis strains. In particular: (i) the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms analysis in katG and gyrA genes will allow to characterize the Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains as belonging into one of three Principal Genetic Groups (PGG1b, PGG2 and PGG3); (ii) the study of the region TbD1 (mmpl6 gene) will allow the distinction between strains of M. tuberculosis Ancestral and Modern inside the PGG1b group. P108 UNUSUAL LARGE-SCALE CHROMOSOMAL REARRANGEMENTS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BEIJING B0/W148 CLUSTER ISOLATES Egor Shitikov1, J Bespyatykh1, D Ischenko1, I Karpova1, E Kostryukova1, Y Isaeva2, E Nosova2, A Vyazovaya3, I Mokrousov3, O Narvskaya3, B Vishnevsky4, T Otten4, V Zhuravlev4, P Yablonsky4, E Ilina1, V Govorun1 1 Research Institute of physical Chemical Medicine, Moscow, Russia 2 Moscow Scientific-Practical Center of Treatment of Tuberculosis of Moscow healthcare, Moscow, Russia 3 St. petersburg pasteur Institute, St. petersburg, Russia 4 Research Institute of phtisiopulmonology, St. petersburg, Russia Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) Beijing family isolates are geographically widespread, often hypervirulent and associated with drug resistance. One fourth of Beijing genotype strains circulating in Russia belongs to the so called B0/W148 clonal group according to restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The aim of the present study was to investigate features of these endemic strains on a genomic level. Four MTB isolates of the Beijing B0/W148 cluster were sequenced using a pyrosequencing approach (454/ Roche FLX) with greater than 10-fold of coverage. All individual reads generated using the 454 platform were mapped to H37Rv genome using the 454 GS Reference Mapper (Roche 454 Life Science, uSA). 61 The data obtained was compared with published genomes of the MTB strains, including the one of W-148 from the same B0/W148 group. Phylogenetic tree was built based on overall SNPs extracted from genomic DNA sequences after excluding SNPs for PE-PPE and PGRS protein families by using the MEGA 4 program. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a close similarity between the genomes of four Beijing B0/W148 strains under study and published earlier genome of W-148 strain. It’s gave us an opportunity to analyze structural genomic rearrangements within this group. Whole genome alignment between W-148 and the reference H37Rv MTB strain revealed two large chromosomal inversions in the W-148 genome. According to our hypothesis the largest inversion reversed the orientation of 3 megabase (Mb) of the chromosome. The second one occurred in the previously inverted region and partly restored the orientation of 2.1 Mb inner segment of the chromosome. These two inversions wereflankedbypartialorcompletecopiesofmobile genetic element IS6110 and touched large parts of genome. Detailed PCR-analysis of our sequenced strains (n = 4) revealed the rearrangements in their genomes identical to those ones found in W-148 strain. This is another example of genomic rearrangements in the MTB in addition to the published recently cases of large-scale duplications. These events occurred in the similar region of genome, which leads to the assumption that this region is unstable. The described cases suggest that large-scale genomic rearrangements in the currently circulating MTB isolates may occur more frequently than previously considered, and we hope that further studies will help to determine the exact mechanism of their formation. P123 DETECTION OF MUTATIONS BEYOND THE ‘HOTSPOT’ REGIONS OF FIRST- AND SECOND-LINE DRUG RESISTANCE GENES IN ExTENSIVELY DRUG-RESISTANT MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS ISOLATES USING WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING Asho Ali1, Zahra Hasan1, Taane Clark2, Ruth McNerney2, Kim Mallard2, Mridul Nair3, Arnab Pain3, Rumina Hasan4 1 The aga Khan University, Karachi, pakistan 2 London School of hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK 3 King abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi arabia 4 Department of pathology/Microbiology, The aga Khan University, Karachi, pakistan Molecular detection of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is based on identificationofcommonmutationsindrugresistance 62 conferring genes. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has facilitated the identification of synonymous and non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), as well as other variations e.g., deletions in MTB. Geographical variations in SNPs highlight the importance of understanding region-wise variations. We performed WGS of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) (n=37) and susceptible (n=5) MTB isolates from Pakistan. Thirty-seven genes conferring resistance to firstandsecondlinedrugswereanalyzed. Over 150 SNPs (>60% previously unreported) were identified, including 79 in genes resulting in resistance to; rifampicin (rpoB), isoniazid (katG, fpbC, Rv1592C, ndh, Rv2242, fabD, kasa, accD, oxyR, fadE24, and nat), streptomycin (rrs (500 region), and gidB),pyrazimamide (pnca), ethambutol (emba, embB, embC, embR, Rv3124, rmlD, inia, iniB, iniC, and manB) and 22 SNPs associated with genes conferring resistance to second line drugs; ofloxacin(gyrA and gyrB), aminoglycosides (tlyA and ethionamide, ethA and fabG1). Not all of the above gene targets are included in commercially available molecular diagnostic assays for detection of drug resistance in MTB (i.e., GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay, Haines line probe assays; MTBDRplus and MTBDRsl). Based on our data of these XDR-TB strains we observe that the commercial assays would have missed isoniazid resistance in 11%, fluoroquinolone resistance in 22 % and aminoglycoside resistance in 19% of MTB isolates. Therefore, inclusion of additional SNPs for drug resistance conferring genes are required to improve molecular methods for MTB resistance detection. P248 COMPARISON OF TWO COMMERCIAL MOLECULAR ASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OF TUBERCLE BACILLI IN PARAFFIN-EMBEDDED TISSUES Nataša Fajfar, Manca Zolnir Dovc 1 University Clinic of Respiratory and allergic Diseases, golnik, Slovenia In terms of histopathologic diagnosis, tuberculosis (TB) can be diagnosed only as “a chronic granulomatous inflammation,suggestiveofTB”onaroutinesurgical pathology report. However, histopathologic features ofchronicgranulomatousinflammationcanbefound in various conditions and diseases other than TB. Therefore other tests should be performed to enable a definitive diagnosis of TB. Molecular techniques for the detection of mycobacteria in histopathological specimens have been introduced as a powerful supplement to conventional histopathological diagnosis allready a while ago. The aim of our study was to evaluate the performance of Cepheid GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay (GX) for the detection of M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in paraffin-embedded tissue samples, without special treatment of tissue to extract DNA, in comparison to the Gen-Probe Amplified M. tuberculosis Direct test (MTD), using culture combined with final diagnosis as a reference method. A total of 58 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples obtained from 45 patients were included in our study. Deparaffinized slices of tissue were obtained on glass from Laboratory for Pathology at our clinic. Tissue blocks ranged in age from 1 to 8 years. Out of 58 samples, 23 were considered as TB positive cases and 35 as TB negative cases. Fine powder of scraped tissue was collected and stored in PBS buffer for each sample. Tissues in PBS were tested with MTD and GX assays. These were performed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Out of 58 tissue samples 11 were positive and 30 negative by GX and MTD. Sixteen samples were positive by MTD only, and 1 by GX only. From 36 TB positive cases MTD detected MTBC in 27 samples (75%) but GX in only 12 (33.3%). In comparison to culture combined with clinical diagnosis, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 80%, 100%, 100% and 71% for the MTD and 60%, 100%, 100% and 47.8% for the GX, respectively. The results of our study show that commercial molecular assays can be used as additional means to confirm the diagnosis of TB from histopathological specimens. MTBC infection can be detected with a much higher analytical sensitivity with the MTD than the GX test. It can therefore be concluded that with highly sensitive MTD assay, the diagnostic accuracy can be increased. However, the sensitivity of GX assay performed from histopathological specimens is still not sufficient for a final decision of a suspected TB. Further studies are needed to evaluate the performance of the GX test for the detection of MTBC in paraffin-embedded tissues with pretreatment of tissue samples to extract DNA. 63 MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS AND STRATEGY FOR CONTROL P5 PREVALENCE OF HAARLEM FAMILY IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN WORLD POPULATION: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS Rashid Ramazanzadeh, Daem Roshani Cellular & Molecular Research Center and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Science, Sanandaj, Iran Background: One of the most prevalent genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in global population is Haarlem family that are associated with drug resistance The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and distribution of Haarlem family in the world using meta-analysis based on systematic review of articles published. Methods: All original articles published in literature database including PubMed, Science direct, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Biological abs, Iranmedex, and SID systematically reviewed prevalence of Beijing family. Data analyzed using meta-analysis with random effects models. Results: Final analyses included 78 samples that have been selected from 2162 studies. Overall Haarlem family prevalence in world was estimated to be 8.6% (95% CI 8.3–8.9). Corresponding estimates by continent were Europe 13.8% (13.1–14.5), Asia 9.5% (9–10.1), America 6.8% (6·2–7.4) and Africa 4.2% (3.5–5). Conclusions: According to the results, this genotype is prevalent in European countries. Effective control program is needed in world to control the spread of drug resistance strains specially Haarlem family. Keywords: Haarlem, M. tuberculosis, Prevalence, Meta-analysis P26 GENOTYPING OF MyCOBaCTERIUM BOvIS FROM FARMED ELK IN KOREA BY SPOLIGOTYPING AND VARIABLE NUMBER TANDEM REPEAT ANALYSIS Jae Myung Kim1, Yun-Ho Jang1, Yoonra Jang1, Soyoon Ryoo1, Narae Kim1, Jae Min Jang1, ShinSeok Kang2, Hyun Sub Byun2, Suk Chan Jung1 1 animal, plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection agency, anyang, South Korea 64 Chungbuk Institute and veterinary Research, Changwon, South Korea 2 Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) is primarily a disease of ruminants, particularly cattle, and is endemic in South Korea. The aim of this study was to identify and genetically characterize the M. bovis isolates circulating in farmed deer in South Korea. Genotyping of the M.bovis isolates from farmed deer with visible TB lesions was carried out using two molecular genetic techniques, spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive uints-variable number of tandem repeat (MIRu-vNTR). There are only two spoligotyping patterns that predominate in farmed deer; strains with spoligotype pattern SB0140 was the most common (60% of strains) followed by SB1040 with 8(40.0%) isolates. These clusters may reflect common historical origins of M. bovis pattern in South Korea. Genetic characterization of 21 M. bovis isolates via the 14 MIRu-vNTR typing distinguished 10 patterns. The most discriminatory locus for the M. bovis isolates in Korea was quB 3336 (h=0.57). MIRu 31, quB 47, vNTR 2401 and 3171 also showed high discriminatory power (h=0.47). Phylogenic analysis of M. bovis isolates based on spoligotyping and MIRu-vNTR separated the isolates into 9 genotypes. Significant diversity among the M. bovis isolates circulatinginfarmedelkwasidentifiedwithSB014042532755434343 genotype being the most frequent strains. In conclusion, spoligotyping and MIRu-vNTR of M. bovis shows great potential as a molecular typing tool for characterizing the epidemiology of M. bovis animal infections in Korea. P48 MOLECULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS BEIJING GENOTYPE ISOLATES FROM RUSSIA Anna Vyazovaya1, Igor Mokrousov1, Natalia Solovieva2, Tatiana Otten2, Boris Vishnevskiy2, Olga Narvskaya1 1 St. petersburg pasteur Institute, St. petersburg, Russia 2 Research Institute of phthisiopulmonology, St. petersburg, Russia Background: In Russia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains of the Beijing genotype constitute about half of the pathogen’s population. They are associated with multiple drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis and increased transmissibility. Methods: The 105 M. tuberculosis DNA samples of the Beijing genotype (defined by spoligotyping) isolates (84 MDR) from epidemiologically unlinked Russian patients with tuberculosis (2010-2012) were subjected to IS6110-RFLP and 24-loci vNTRtyping. Data were compared to MIRu-vNTRplus international database; Hunter Gaston Index (HGI) of allelic diversity was calculated. Results: The IS6110-RFLP typing detected 36 different banding patterns (HGI=0.85) containing 1221 bands. Twenty-five isolates had unique patterns (24%) and 80 strains were grouped into 11 clusters. The largest RFLP cluster designated B0 included 33 isolateswith17-bandprofilewhichpossessedspecific upper 2 bands of about 9.2 and 7.1 kb and it was visually identical to that of internationally recognized W148 strain. Similar upper double bands were found in 16-, 17-, 18-, or 19- bands IS6110-RFLP patterns of 16 isolates. The whole set of 49 strains was assigned to previously described Russian “successful” clone B0/W148-cluster. The 24-vNTR typing differentiated 105isolatesinto30profiles(HGI=0.82)groupedinto 6 clusters; the largest ones included 21 isolates (57% MDR) and 38 isolates (92% MDR) that corresponded to types 94-32 and 100-32, respectively (MIRuvNTRplus). The cluster 100-32 included 78% of the B0/W148-cluster isolates (68% of them with B0/W148 IS6110-RFLPprofile)whichthuswerecharacterized by 7 repeats in loci MIRu26 and quB26. Another vNTR cluster 1066-32 included 4 B0/W148-cluster isolates characterized by 6 repeats in quB26. The remaining 7 B0/W148-cluster isolates had unique MIRu-vNTR pattern, however, they had 7 repeats in MIRu26 and quB26. The highest HGI for Beijing strains was achieved for loci quB26 (0.66) and MIRu26 (0.51) while 12 loci (MIRu2, 4, 16, 20, 23, 24, 27, 39; ETR-B, ETR-C, quB4156, and Mtub30) showed no variation. Conclusions: The Russian Beijing strains of the IS6110-RFLP clonal cluster B0/W148 were divergent due to polymorphism of MIRu-vNTR loci. However, most of them (78%) had 7 repeats in MIRu26 and quB26 and belonged to the internationally recognized 100-32 vNTR cluster. P61 MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION IN CATTLE IN CROATIA - CASE REPORTS Silvio Spicic1, Vera Katalinic-Jankovic2, Ivana Racic1, Maja Zdelar-Tuk1, Sanja Duvnjak1, Zeljko Cvetnic1 1 Croatian veterinary Institute zagreb, zagreb, Croatia 2 Croatian national Institute of public health, zagreb, Croatia Among the diseases that have threatened the health and the lives of people and animals in the past century, tuberculosis(TB)playedasignificantrole.InCroatia, incidence of human TB was 15/100.000 in 2011. Bovine TB occurrence has decreased as a result of a plannedfightagainstthediseaseinthepastdecades. Despite the effort, it has not been eradicated yet. In Croatia, the control of bovine tuberculosis is based on annual testing of all bovine older than six weeks by tuberculin skin test. Bovine positive on tuberculin skin test are slauthered and their organs taken for bacteriological testing on TB. Methods for molecular epidemiology are also used in order to enhance the control of TB. Described here are the only two cases of M. tuberculosis infection found in cattle in Croatia. In 2008, one heifer on a small cattle farm was slaughtered due to positive reaction on bovine tuberculin skin test. No gross pathological changes were visible on lymph node and tissue specimens inspected at slaughter. M. tuberculosis was isolated from bronchial lymph nodes. Epidemiological investigation based on MIRU-VNTR typing database enbled us to find the man – the source of the infection and connect him to the infection in heifer. In the second case, in 2010 we found 3 cows positive onbovinetuberculininthesameflock.Onlychanges detected at slaughter were enormously increased bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes without visible tubercles. M. tuberculosis was isolated from bronchial lymph nodes in one cow. Despite extensive epidemiological investigations and molecular MIRuvNTR genotyping of the cattle strain we were not able to find identical strain in human database in Croatia or possible pathways for introduction of the infection to the heard. This second case of M. tuberculosis infection in cattle with unknown strain opens up questions about the sources of infection, ways of dissemination, but also points to the need to be more active in case finding of tuberculosis in humans. Although rare, M. tuberculosis infection may occur in cattle and other animal species. M. tuberculosis does not appear to have an indigenous animal host or reservoir and the animals that become infected represent most probably accidental hosts. Humans suffering from active TB are strongly believed to represent the main source of M. tuberculosis infection in animals, including cattle. Improvement of diagnosis of tuberculosis in humans and rapid detection of carriers ensures limiting of spreading of M. tuberculosis in humans and in animals. P67 TRANSMISSION OF M. BOvIS INFECTION AMONG WILD ANIMALS Marek Lipiec1, Monika Krajewska2 1 national veterinary Research Institute, pulawy, poland 2 national veterinary Research Institute, 65 Department of Microbiology, national Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis, pulawy, poland Bovine tuberculosis is one of the most import bacterial diseases among wild animals. Wild boar TB has already described in Europe, in Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and the united Kingdom as the main wildlife reservoir for tuberculosis. Currently, Poland is recognizedasofficiallyfreeofthediseaseandbovine tuberculosis (BTB) cases are rarely found in other than cattle species. In November 2012, the dead wild boar (female, ca 4 years old) was found in round of the the Bieszczady Mounatains of South - East Poland. In the same area for many years the existence of bovine tuberculosis in bison (European bison) was observed. Tissues of the dead wild boar were in good condition because of low temperatures. The official veterinarian took for laboratory examination mediastinal, bronchial and mesenteric lymph nodes and sent them for testing for tuberculosis. The samples were subjected to laboratory testing in National Reference Laboratory for Tuberculosis of the National veterinary Research Institute (NvRI) in Pulawy, using the standard procedures. The dissected tissue material was soaked and homogenized in a 5% solution of oxalic acid. The resulting supernatant was removed and the pellet was washed twice with sterile physiological saline. The rinsed pellet was used for inoculation of culture media - 3 slants of Stonenbrink’s, Petragnani’s and Loewenstein – Jensen’s media and incubated at 37°C. In order to identify species and to determinethemolecularprofiles,thestrainsobtained fromthewildboarweretested.Theidentificationand genotyping of strains was based on spoligotyping and MIRu-vNTR analysis. The bacterial DNAs were prepared as reported previously and were submitted to spoligotyping and 15-loci MIRu-vNTR typing using published protocols. MIRu-vNTR typing was performed manually using polymerase chain reaction amplification of 15 loci. For database comparison, spoligotypes in binary format were entered in the SpolDB4 proprietary database of the Pasteur Institute of Guadeloupe. It was found that the strain isolated from the wild boar is identical to the previously isolated strains of bison. Studies suggest the possibility of transmission of M.bovis ssp bovis strain from bison to the wild boar. Thus, despite the elimination of the sick bison herd, the control of tuberculosis in this area can be very difficult. P71 THE USEFULNESS OF ELISA TEST FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS IN POLISH CONDITIONS Marek Lipiec1, Monika Krajewska2 66 national veterinary Research Institute, pulawy, poland 2 national veterinary Research Institute, Department of Microbiology, national Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis, pulawy, poland ELISA is now one of the most frequently used serological tests for the diagnosis of many infectious diseases of animals. It is now the primary test used in the diagnosis of cattle paratuberculosis, however, in the form of a commercial test was not previously used in the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis. Diagnostic of bovine tuberculosis based, in accordance with international regulations, on the performance of single or comparative tuberculin test in animals over 6 weeks of age. In case of obtaining a positive or doubtful result , additional tuberculin test is carried out after 42 days. During this time, the status of the herd and trade of animals is suspended. Suspected animals are eliminated, and the corresponding tissue samples are analyzed using standard laboratory methods. The aim of the study was to investigate the suitability of a commercial ELISA in Polish conditions for recognition of bovine tuberculosis. Together, in the two-fold repetitions 50 sera samples from healthy animals, 44 sera from cows with a positive tuberculin test, 10 from cattle with anatomo pathological changes, 15 with positive microbiological test and 16 derived from animals reacting positively in the ELISA test for paratuberculosis was examined. It was found that the sensitivity of commercial ELISA reached 90% and was higher than the gamma interferon test . In the study there were no false positives or false negatives results. Johne’s disease infection did not affect the results of the test for bovine tuberculosis. The specificity of the test is set at 100%.The used test showed a large utility in the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis. This is less time-consuming and laborintensive than the gamma interferon test and the results are easier to the interpretation. In Polish conditions can be used as a additional and helper test in the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis. Could be implemented especially after the doubtful results of a single or comparative tuberculin test. International law does not allow the use of serological tests as the only force in the fight against bovine tuberculosis, but it seems that in the future the ELISA test may play an important role in clarifying the status of epizootic bovine herds 1 P76 MIRU-VNTR TYPING REVEALS HIGH HETEROGENEITY IN A SUPPOSEDLY CLONAL GROUP OF MyCOBaCTERIUM BOvIS Sabrina Rodriguez-Campos1, Yurena Navarro2, Beatriz Romero1, Javier Bezos1, Lucía de Juan3, Carmen Casal Comendador1, Lucas Domínguez3, Alexandra Gutiérrez1, Darío García de Viedma4, Alicia Aranaz3 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (visavet), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 2 Cei Campus Moncloa, Ucm-Upm, Servicio de Microbiología Clínica y Enfermedades Infecciosas, hospital general Universitario gregorio Marañón, Inst. Investigación, Sanitaria gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain 3 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (visavet), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Departamento de Sanidad animal, Facultad de veterinaria, Madrid, Spain 4 Servicio de Microbiología Clínica y Enfermedades Infecciosas. hospital general Universitario gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain 1 Spoligotyping is often complemented by MIRu-vNTR typing in order to increase discrimination. In Spain, SB0121 (SIT481) is the most prevalent spoligotype (28%) involved in bovine tuberculosis. In this study we applied MIRu-vNTR typing to a panel of randomly selected Spanish M. bovis SB0121 isolates to assess allelic diversity and overall discriminatory power. Furthermore, MIRu-vNTR was applied to all TBpositive animals from selected farms infected by M. bovis SB0121 to evaluate the degree of heterogeneity in supposedly epidemiologically linked isolates. The samples were obtained between 1997 and 2010 from all over Spain and originated from cattle (n = 244), goat (n = 2), wild boar (n = 7), red deer (n = 2), fallow deer (n = 2), badger (n = 2) and domestic pig (n = 2). MIRu-vNTR typing was carried out in a twostep approach: 1) Assessing a random selection of isolates (n=115) using 9 vNTR loci: ETR-A, ETR-B, ETR-D, ETR-E, MIRu26, quB11a, quB11b, quB26 and quB3232. 2) Screening of 176 TB-positive animals from 15 farms for heterogeneity applying the 6 most discriminatory MIRu-vNTR markers; in case of encountering differences in the genotypes, the 9-loci MIRu-vNTR type was completed to determine the degree of variation. Thefirstpanelofisolateswasdividedinto65different MIRu-vNTR (Mv) types achieving a discriminatory power D=0.9856. The most discriminatory loci were in descending order: quB3232, ETR-A, ETR-B, quB11a, quB26, MIRu26, ETR-D, ETR-E and quB11b. To determine a more cost-effective typing format we compared the effect of reducing the number of markers for the analysis: six-loci approach D=0.9826, four-loci D=0.9689. Regarding the second panel screened for heterogeneity in assumedly homogeneous farms, we found 5 out of the 15 farms to be truly homogeneous. In the remaining farms we observed: i) 1 farm with Mv types differing in only 1 locus, ii) 6 farms with Mv types differing in 2-6 loci and iii) 3 farms in which Mv types differing in only 1 locus were found along with Mv types with variation at more than 1 locus. The characterisation of the random panel of M. bovis SB0121 isolates revealed high diversity. This finding along with the heterogeneity detected in ten out of the 15 farms under study suggests considering spoligotyping as limited for source tracking. Heterogeneity reveals the potential existence of continuous risk of infection and the involvement of microevolution events in the analyzed farms. P77 EVALUATION OF COBAS® TAqMAN MTB FOR DIRECT DETECTION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx IN COMPARISON WITH THE COBAS® AMPLICOR MTB Claudia Ritter1, Guido Bloemberg2, Antje Voit2, Vanessa Deggim2, Erik Böttger1 1 Institut Für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Zürich, Switzerland; Nationales Zentrum für Mykobakterien, zürich, Switzerland 2 Institut Für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, zürich, Switzerland The Roche COBAS Amplicor MTB assay, recently replaced by the Roche COBAS Taqman MTB assay, was one of the first commercially available assays for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex based on nucleic acid amplification. We have previously reported on a limited specificity of COBAS Amplicor MTB assay, in particular for positive samples with an OD660 < 2.0. using a selected set of respiratory samples, which were scored false positive by the COBAS Amplicor test, we here demonstrate that specificity of the COBAS Taqman assay is significantly improved. In addition, studying a set of 133 clinical samples, revealed that the COBAS TaqmanMTBshowedsignificantlylessPCRinhibition as compared to the COBAS Amplicor test. An overall concordance of 98.2 was observed between the two assays. In a subsequent prospective study we evaluated the Roche COBAS Amplicor MTB assay on 1143 clinical specimens, including respiratory (n=838) and nonrespiratory specimens (n=305). For respiratory specimens a sensitivity of 89.7%, a specificity of 100%, a PPV of 100% and a NPV of 99.0% was determined. For nonrespiratory specimens a sensitivity of 77.8%, a specificity of 100%, a PPV of 100% and a NPv of 96.8% was determined. We conclude that the COBAS TaqMan MTB assay is a significantlyimprovedtoolforthedirectdetectionof MTB in clinical specimens. P79 A PUTATIVE COMPENSATORY MUTATION IN THE RPOC-GENE ExCLUSIVELY DETECTED IN ISOLATES OF THE RESISTANT EUROPEAN TUBERCULOSIS (RET) CLUSTER WITH A MDRTB PHENOTYPE 67 Jessica De Beer1, Indra Bergval2, Anja Schuitema2, Richard Anthony2, Maryse Fauville3, Beatriz Ferro4, Viviana Ritacco5, Aldert Zomer6, Jakko van Ingen7, Dick van Soolingen8 1 national Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, national Institute for public health and the Environment (Rivm), Bilthoven, netherlands 2 Kit Biomedical Research, Royal Tropical Institute, amsterdam, netherlands 3 Tuberculosis and Mycobacteria, Scientific Institute of public health, Brussels, Belgium 4 Tuberculosis area, Cideim, Cali, Colombia 5 Instituto nacional de Enfermedadeinfecciosas anlis “Carlos g. Malbran”, Buenos aires, argentina 6 Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud University nijmegen Medical Centre, nijmegen, netherlands 7 Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University nijmegen Medical Centre, nijmegen, netherlands 8 national Institute for public health and the Environment, Bilthoven, netherlands mono-resistant and sensitive isolates with other vNTR profiles, as well as 62 isolates of other genotypes from Argentina, Belgium and The Netherlands. The rpoC F452S mutation was only detected in isolates of thelargeEuropeanoutbreakclusterandspecifically those with an MDR phenotype that contain an embB M306v mutation. The combination of the most favorable mutations associated with rifampicin and isoniazid resistance; rpoB S531L and katG S315T, and the putative compensatory mutation F452S in the rpoC-gene likely provides this MDR outbreak strain a fitness advantage. This “super-spreader” strain, which has the sameVNTRprofileassuccessfullyspreadingMDRTB clones in former Soviet union states deserves continued monitoring and fundamental research into its evolutionary development, as the spread of such typeofstrainsmaynegativelyinfluencethesuccess of the global TB control worldwide. Two consecutive European projects on the molecular surveillance of MDR-TB from 2003-2007, using first IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and later 24-locus variable number of tandem repeat typing (vNTR), detected the same large cluster of the Beijing genotype (Eu0051); this cluster comprised 61% (175/288) in the first and 49.9% (n=470/941) of all clustered MDR-TB isolates in the second project. Thus this resistant European tuberculosis (RET) cluster outbreak continued to spread in the European region and is responsible for a significant proportion of all clustered MDR-TB cases. This worrying observation prompted research on the selective advantages of these strains. The RET outbreak isolates were characterized by GenoType MTBDRplus reverse line blot method (HAIN Lifescience, Nehren, Germany), identical mutations associated with resistance for rifampicin and isoniazid in 47 of the 48 isolates tested (rpoB S531L and katG S315T, respectively). It has been shown in previous studies that these mutations yield the lowest fitnesscostcomparedtootherresistance-associated mutations.Themutationsrelatedtofluoroquinolone, aminoglycoside and ethambutol resistance showed a wide variation. Illumina whole genome sequencing, performed by Baseclear (Leiden, The Netherlands), of 9 outbreak isolatesidentifiedaputativecompensatorymutation in the rpoC gene. This mutation, F452S, was not found in an isoniazid mono-resistant strain and two sensitivestrainswiththesameVNTRprofileandthus was restricted to MDR-TB RET isolates, suggesting this may be a crucial factor in the success of these MDR-TB strains. Additionally, we screened for this rpoC F452S mutation in: 31 other isolates of the RET cluster (15 MDR-TB, 14 INH mono-resistant and 2 sensitive isolates) from 6 European countries, 21 Beijing genotype MDR/XDR M. tuberculosis, INH- CURRENT STATUS OF BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS IN POLAND - 3 YEARS AFTER THE RECOGNITION OF THE COUNTRY FREE OF THE DISEASE 68 P87 Marek Lipiec1, Monika Krajewska2 national veterinary Research Institute, pulawy, poland 2 national veterinary Research Institute, Department of Microbiology, national Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis, pulawy, poland 1 Bovine tuberculosis is an infectious disease of cattlewithastrictlydefinedrulesforthecontroland eradication. For many years Poland has struggled with bovine tuberculosis. In 2009, based on European Commission Decision of 23 April 2009, Poland has been recognized as officially free of bovine tuberculosis. This recognition does not mean, of course, complete elimination of the disease in veterinary practice. According to data for 2009, which recognized Poland as a country free from bovine tuberculosis, the study was performed including 111 samples from cattle suspected of being recognized as a disease (reactive tuberculin test). The existence of the disease was found in 60 animals from 12 farms (12 outbreaks). In another 2010 years the epidemiological situation deteriorated slightly: a total of 147 samples were tested, and the disease was found in 18 different farms. One third of them were located in the northern part of the Mazowieckie Province, where for many years the existence of outbreaks of bovine tuberculosis was observed. In the next year 2011 were similar to the epidemiological situation: a total of 180 samples were tested and the existence of tuberculosis reported in 16 outbreaks and in 2012 it were 15. During the study period, an additional difficulty in the study was the change in tuberculin diagnostic preparation. Polish tuberculin, used for many years, was replaced by the Czech tuberculin, with similar power but with different injection volumes. There was also a change in the frequency of field tests performed. Decision of the ChiefVeterinaryOfficershallbetestedannually20% of the cattle in the area so that within 5 years the entire population was examined. In laboratory test the negative rate (without isolation of strain) ranged from 40to50%.Thisindicatesasignificantproportionof false-positive results ascertained tuberculin test. Taking into account all the data obtained during the period, it is clear that testing for bovine tuberculosis in Poland and the adopted system allows to maintain the achieved status of a bovine tuberculosis-free and allows for controlled combat and further elimination of the disease in cattle herds. P106 TRAINING IN BIOSAFETY AGAINST M. TUBERCULOSIS: ExPERIENCE IN THE MYCOBACTERIA REFERENCE CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA, SPAIN biocontainment levels, protective equipment and hazardous waste management. Our proposed security sheet against M tuberculosis consists of the following sections: description, feasibility, risks in the laboratory, health surveillance, exposure control (containment level, collective and individual protection), handling and storage. Amongst the several tasks performed by our staff listed in manual work procedures are established biosafety schemes which involve safe practices, use of protective equipment and action to incidents / accidents. There is an outline of the procedure for hazardous waste management. The staff is trained regularly establishing a simulation to carry out the emergency plan in the laboratory. Conclusions: Staff training is essential to prevent laboratory-acquired infections, incidents and accidents. This one must include information on safety practices that should be followed to avoid or minimize the risk of inhalation and inoculation and properly decontaminate and also remove infected material. P110 Vaquero-Alvarez Esther, Pablo López-Roldan, Emilio J Aguilar, Fernando Palomares, Francisco Torralbo, Manuel Vaquero, Manuel J Casal University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain A NOVEL MODEL TO CONTROL FOR PATIENT RISK FACTORS IN MEASURING THE TRANSMISSIBILITY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS STRAINS AND LINEAGES The Mycobacterium Reference Center is a laboratory with a large workload that performs diverse activities like direct sputum smear microscopy, preparation of specimens for use in an automated nucleic acid amplificationtestcartridge,processingofspecimens for inoculation on primary culture media, culture manipulation for identification, DST or line-probe assays on cultured isolates. Objective: To present our experience in providing information and training our staff to prevent occupational hazards in working with exposure to M. tuberculosis. Methodology: Following a risk assessment is directed a training plan integrated into the Centre prevention plan, where the workers, the head of the laboratory and safety technicians are involved. There are trainingcoursesinfirstaid,fireprotectionandother specificaboutbiosafety.Thesecoursesof5hoursare taught by specialists in occupational safety. A safety data sheet management of M tuberculosis in the laboratory must be completed and also hazardous waste management must be reported. From existing working procedures in the laboratory, each task is added in a section of safe practices. Finally, we train the personnel coping emergencies as well as a drill for training is carried out. Results: The course, which is celebrated periodically and attended by all the laboratory personnel, includes training in biosafety concepts on biological agents, classification, transmission, universal measures, Hanna Nebenzahl-Guimaraes1, Martien Borgdorff2, Jessica de Beer1, Megan Murray3, Dick van Soolingen1 1 Rijksinstituut voor volksgezondheid En Milieu (Rivm), Bilthoven, netherlands 2 Municipal health Service, amsterdam, netherlands 3 harvard School of public health (hsph), Boston, USa Background: Host-related risk factors, such as age, sex and smear positivity, are still considered the most important factors influencing transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Recent findings however suggest that the spread of MTB also depends on bacteriological factors. So far studies looking at the association between strains or phylogenetic lineages of MTB and transmissibility have arrived at differing and often contradictory conclusions. In the Netherlands all MTB isolates have been subjected to DNA fingerprinting since 1993 and all patient information is available. Here we describe a method for quantifying and controlling for host-related risk factors in order to go beyond the conventional use of cluster size and proportion of cases in a cluster as proxy measures of transmissibility, thus strengthening the association found with strains and phylogenetic lineage. Methods: using spoligotyping and MIRu-typing we classified MTB isolates from a nationwide database 69 of isolates from the Netherlands into four major phylogenetic lineages: Euro-American, Central Asian Strain (CAS), East-African-Indian (EAI) and Beijing. Isolates with identical IS6110-RFLP or VNTR fingerprints were classified as clustered, and Clustering Rates (the proportion of clustered isolates) was calculated per phylogenetic lineage. Odds Ratios of host characteristics for clustering were estimated using a logistic regression model and used as weights in calculating each patient’s propensity to transmit (PPT). The geometric mean of PPT values belonging to a cluster was taken as the overall measure of a cluster’s propensity to transmit (CPT). An analysis of variance (ANOvA) was carried out to check whether PPT values were comparable between the four lineages. A “high transmissibility” category was defined as clusters in the bottom 33rd percentile of CPT values with Cluster Size above average. Results: Our dataset consisted of a total of 10,389 strains;6,595classifiedasEuro-American,1,327as CAS, 1,422 as EAI and 1,045 as Beijing. PPT values from strains of the Euro-American lineage were on average higher than those of Beijing, CAS and EAI strains (0.05 level of significance). Clustering Rates were 60.7% (95% CI, 59.5-61.9) for Euro-American strains, 49.2% (95% CI, 46.5-51.9) for CAS strains, 51.1% (95% CI, 48.5-53.7) for EAI strains and 49.4% (95% CI, 46.4-52.4) for Beijing strains. In comparison, the proportion of clusters belonging to the “high transmissibility” category was 10.4% (95% CI, 8.6-12.5), 10.5% (95% CI, 6.5-15.7), 14.5% (95% CI, 10.1-19.9) and 25.8% (95% CI, 19.3-33.3) for Euro-American, CAS, EAI and Beijing strains, respectively. Conclusion: By correcting for host-related factors in measuring transmissibility of strains in The Netherlands, the Beijing phylogenetic lineage is showntobesignificantlymoretransmissiblethanthe Euro-American, CAS or EAI lineages. P125 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF TUBERCULOSIS IN ARCHANGELSK, RUSSIA AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A RAPID ASSAY FOR DETECTION OF RESISTANCE IN THIS HIGH BURDEN SETTING Platon Eliseev1, Andrey Maryandyshev1, Elena Nikishova1, Irina Tarasova2, Galina Gorina2, Erja Chryssanthou3, Lars-Olof Larsson4, Malin Ridell5 1 northen State Medical Universiy, archangelsk, Russia 2 Regional Clinical antituberculosis Dispensary, archangelsk, Russia 3 Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Instirute, Stockholm, Sweden 4 Respiratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden 5 Microbiology; Biomedicine, The University, gothenburg, Sweden 70 The aim was twofold: to perform epidemiological analyses of tuberculosis (TB) in the Archangelsk region with particular focus on multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB and to evaluate the molecular method MTBDRplus assay in this high burden setting. The number of TB cases was 812 (incidence 65/105) and among these patients, 151 cases were registered in the penitentiary system (incidence 1162/105). Most patients were men, 94% had pulmonary TB and 22% were relapses. Out of all cases, 341 (42%) were smear positive and thus contagious. 176 (22%) patients had MDR–TB, among which one had extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR–TB). The number of cases being both contagious and MDR–TB was 128 representing 16% of all TB cases (incidence 10/105). Among these 128 TB patients 37 were relapses representing 26% of all the relapse cases. The results of MTBDRplus and Bactec MGIT analyses corresponded in 99%. In conclusion it can be stated that many TB patients had relapsing pulmonary TB in Archangelsk. A large number had contagious MDR-TB thus being hazardous in society. Many patients were prisoners demonstration that the TB situation in the prisons is particularly severe. The analyses showed furthermore that MTBDRplus is of major value in this setting P139 ACCURATE AND EFFICIENT IDENTIFICATION OF DRUG RESISTANCE AND LOCAL MDR CLUSTER STRAINS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS USING AN ADAPTED SNPBASED MULTIPLEx LPA ASSAY Sarah Sengstake1, Indra Bergval1, Anja Schuitema1, Kiki Tuin2, Edgar Abadia3, Jessica De Beer4, Nino Bablishvili5, Nino Bzekalava5, Nadia Brankova6, Viktoria Levterova6, Rusudan Aspindzelashvili5, Christophe Sola7, Stefan Panaiotov8, Dick van Soolingen9, Richard Anthony1 1 Kit Biomedical Research, Royal Tropical Institute, amsterdam, netherlands 2 Mrc-holland, amsterdam, netherlands 3 Laboratorio de genética Molecular, Cmbc, Instituto venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (Ivic), Caracas, Venezuela 4 national Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, national Institute for public health and the Environment (Rivm), Bilthoven, The netherlands national Tb Reference Laboratory, national Center for Tb and Lung Diseases, Tbilisi, georgia 6 national Institute for public health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands; national Centre of Infectious and parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria 5 Université paris-Sud-Cnrs, Umr8621, Institut de génétique Et Microbiologie, the Infection, genetics, Emerging pathogens (Igepe) Team, Orsay, France 8 national Center of Infectious and parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria 9 national Institute for public health and the Environment, Bilthoven, netherlands 7 Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is likely to be increasingly applied for characterization of M. tuberculosis (MTB) isolates. Multiplex SNP-based assays such as the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) may be complementary to this approach until all clinical isolates can be subjected to whole genome sequencing and subsequent analysis. Whiletheindicativeidentificationofdrugresistance,in particular to second line drugs, is of major importance fordiagnosticpurposes;strainidentificationisrelevant for monitoring of the TB epidemic. We have developed a multiplex SNP-based assay, the MLPA, for the characterization of cultured MTB isolates. The assay targets mutations conferring resistancetofirst-lineandsecond-linedrugsand can assign a MTB strains to the six main lineages of the MTB complex. We strive to continuously adapt our assay to make use of newly discovered SNPs conferring drug resistance and for emerging phenotypic clades. Here we report of the design and evaluation of probes to detect mutations in eis, rplC and atpE conferring resistance to the anti-TB drugs kanamycin, linezolid and the recently approved drug TMC207, respectively. Criteria for the inclusion of drug resistance associated markers was their occurrence in clinical isolates in addition to in vitro generated mutants. If several mutated loci were reported the three most prevalent ones were selected. We have further included two markers for the identification of geographically important MDR-TB clusters. Previous WGS of clustered TB isolates of the largest MDR cluster in the WHO European Region, identified a mutation in rpoC to be uniquely associated to this cluster (see poster by de Beer et al.). The second marker identifies spoligotype SIT41 belonging to the TuR lineage which is associated with multi-drug resistance in Bulgaria. De novo gene sequencing of a reference panel of strains revealed a mutation in rpfB asanaccurateidentifierfortheTURlineage. Here we show that our assay can accurately identify the presence or absence of the newly included markers for drug resistance and geographically interesting MDR-TB clusters. The bead-based MLPA assay can analyse up to 50 markers simultaneously in one sample with time to result being between those of line probe assays and DST. until large-scale sequencing becomes widely accessible, multiplex SNP-typing is being applied in The Netherlands, Bulgaria and Georgia in the laboratory diagnosis of TB. P149 GENOTYPIC DIVERSITY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH DEMOGRAPHIC AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC DATA UNDERLINES MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FRENCH VERSUS FOREIGN-BORN CASES IN THE RHôNE-ALPES REGION, FRANCE (20002010) Catherine Pichat 1, David Couvin2, Gérard Carret1, Véronique Jacomo3, Anne Carricajo4, Sandrine Boisset5, Jean-Pierre Flandrois1, Gérard Lina1, Nalin Rastogi2 1 Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Centre de Biologie Sud, Chu de Lyon-Sud, pierre-Bénite, Lyon, France 2 Who Supranational Tb Reference Laboratory, Tb & Mycobacteria Unit, Institut pasteur de la guadeloupe, abymes, France 3 Service des Mycobactéries, Laboratoire Biomnis, Lyon, France 4 Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Chu de St Etienne nord, Saint Etienne, France 5 Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Chu de grenoble, grenoble, France As part of a quality and epidemiological observatory led by various hospitals and laboratories working on mycobacteria in the Rhône-Alpes region, we report here the results on the genotypic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains isolated from 2000 to 2010. This study was conducted on 2257 strains (one isolate/patient) of: M. tuberculosis n=2226; M. bovis n=95; and M. africanum n=36. All strains were typed by spoligotyping (n=2257), and a significant proportion by 15-loci MIRu-vNTRs (n=974 or 43.15%). Comparison of genotypes with the international SITvIT2 database (the proprietary version housed at Institut Pasteur de Guadeloupe contained more than 110,000 isolates from 160 countries) allowed to draw conclusions on the genotypic diversity of strains in relation to demographic and epidemiological data. Spoligotyping-based genotypic lineages in this study were: T (n=762, 33.76%); Haarlem (n=514, 22.77%); LAM (n=413, 18.30%, of which n=53, 2.35% were LAM10-CAM); BOv (n=95, 4.21%); Beijing (n=84, 3.72%); EAI (n=66, 2.92%); S (n=63, 2.79%); AFRI (n=36, 1.60%); CAS (n=30, 1.33%); X (n=9, 0.40%); and the Turkey family (previously classified as LAM7-TuR ; n=7, 0.31%). The most predominant patterns corresponded to SIT53/T1 (n=346, 15,3%) > SIT50/H3 (n=166, 7,35%) > SIT42/LAM9 (n=125, 5.5%) > SIT1/Beijing (n=72, 3,2%) > SIT47/H1 (n=71, 3,1%). Thus, the Euro-American lineage which includes evolutionary recent strains (T, LAM, Haarlem, X, S) grouped together 1768 or 78.33% of the strains. Analysis of drug resistance, the location of disease (pulmonary or extrapulmonary), sex and age of patients, and the study of phylogenetic and statistical data set helped draw important conclusions 71 about risk factors for developing the disease. Thus, resistant strains including MDR forms were most commonly associated with the age group 21-40 years (p <0.001) and extrapulmonary tuberculosis was more prevalent among women, while the pulmonary form predominated in men (p <0.001). Lastly, BOv and CAS lineages were particularly prevalent among patients with extrapulmonary disease (p <0.001). The origin was known for 927 patients: 376 (40.6%) French, and 551 (59.4%) foreign-born. Patients of French origin were relatively older (mean age 58.42 years) than patients of foreign origin (mean age 42.38 years). Africa alone accounted for 70% of patients of foreign origin, including 39% from the Maghreb and 30.1% from sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, AFRI, EAI, LAM, Beijing, S, and CAS lineage strains were mostly found in patients of foreign origin while those belonging to Haarlem, T and BOv lineages were more common in patients of French origin. Most importantly, comparison of spoligotypes from foreignborn patients with the SITVIT2 database confirmed that most were infected with genotypes prevalent in their country of origin. P152 MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM BOvIS ISOLATES FROM HUMANS IN ITALY: COMPARISON WITH THE GENOTYPE DATABASE OF ANIMAL STRAINS Maria Pacciarini1, Maria Goria2, Giuseppina Ferraro2, Silvia Tagliabue1, Ester Mazzola3, Maria Tullia Simonetti4, Paola Dal Monte5, Piera Mazzone6, Maria Beatrice Boniotti1 1 IzSLER– Centro di Referenza nazionale per la tubercolosi bovina da M. Bovis, Brescia, Italy 2 IzSpLv, Torino, Italy 3 Ospedale niguarda azienda Ospedaliera, Milano, Italy 4 azienda Ospedaliera Careggi, Firenze, Italy 5 azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria S. Orsola, Bologna, Italy 6 IzSUM, perugia, Italy Spoligotyping and variable Number Tandem Repeats (vNTR) analysis of M. bovis and Mycobacterium caprae strains isolated during the national eradication programme of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in Italy, has been routinely performed since 2000. vNTR typing includes 5 ETRs and 7 MIRu/vNTR markers (vNTR2163a, vNTR2163b, vNTR4052, vNTR1895, vNTR3155, vNTR3232, MIRu26) selected for their high genotypic discriminatory power. This has enabled to obtain a national animal database (ITAN-TB) containing information and genotypes of 4291 M. bovis/M. caprae strains isolated from 2500 TB outbreaks as a supporting tool for epidemiological tracing of TB. In this study a collection of 141 M. bovis and 2 M. caprae 72 recovered from human patients in Lombardy, Tuscany, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, from 2000 to 2012, were characterized by the same genotyping method. Weidentified45spoligotypes,9ofwhich(involving12 strains) never described in the international website www.M.bovis.org and 14 (involving 17 strains) not reported in the animal database. The remaining 22 spoligotypes, representing 114 out of the 143 human strains, were already present in the ITAN-TB. The most frequent spoligotypes were SB0120, SB0134 and SB0841 found respectively in 41%, 7,9% and 5,9% of the human isolates and described as prevalent also in M. bovis population of animal origin (53,6%, 8,9% and 6,2%). Combination of the 22 spoligotypes present in the ITAN-TB, with vNTR analysis discriminated the 114 strains into 46 different genotypes, 31 of which unique in humans (differ by at least 2 vNTR markers compared to animal genotypes) and 15 identical or almost identical (single locus variation) to genotypes described in TB positive cattle/buffalo herds localized mainly in Southern Italy. In particular two genotypes were widespread both in human patients than in animal database: SB0134-ETR54534-vNTR 10, 4, 5, 4. 3, 5/6, 5 and SB120-ETR45533-vNTR 10, 4, 4, 4, 3, 6, 5/6 (order of markers as described above), found respectively in 4 and 6 patients and in 42 and 97 TB outbreaks. Interestingly most of M. bovis human isolates which showed a correspondence with animal genotype database were recovered from Italian-born patients. P153 CHANGES IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS POPULATION STRUCTURE IN THE FRENCH DEPARTMENTS OF THE AMERICAS: A 17 YEARS OVERVIEW Julie Millet1, Elisabeth Streit1, Anne Gaël Bomer1, Franzisca Schuster1, Nalin Rastogi2 1 Institut pasteur de la guadeloupe, abymes, France 2 Who Supranational Tb Reference Laboratory, Tb & Mycobacteria Unit, Institut pasteur de la guadeloupe, abymes, France In the present work, we analyzed Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure in the 3 French Departments of the Americas over a 17 years period in conjunction with spatiotemporal patient’s demographics, bacteriologic data, as well as an assessment on drug-resistance and multidrugresistance (MDR). A total of 1239 M. tuberculosis isolates were collected from patients living in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana from January 1995 to December 2011. Strains were systematically tested for 1st and 2nd line drugs, and initially genotyped using spoligotyping. The subgroup of strains collected from January 2005 to December 2011 was further studied by using 15 and 24 loci MIRuvNTR. Among the 1239 cases, 12.3% were resistant and 2.1% MDR. A significantly higher proportion of strains resistant to at least isoniazid (22.5%, p = 0.002) or rifampicin (20.0%, p <0.001) as well as MDR (17.5%; p <0.001) was observed among relapse cases than newly treated cases. Moreover, among the fivegenotypicfamilies(T,30.1%-LAM,23.7%-H, 22.2% - EAI, 7.2% - X, 6.5%), 2 lineages, X and LAM, were overrepresented among resistant and MDR cases respectively. Our results showed that among the19predominantspoligotypes,4weresignificantly associated to drug resistance corresponding to SIT 20, 64 (Family LAM), SIT 45 (Haarlem family) and SIT 46 (unspecified family). Since, these ultraperipheral European departments are characterized by sustained migration flows with mainland France and surrounding countries among which some have high TB incidence rates (Haiti 230/100 000; Guyana 111/100,000, Suriname 145/100,000), we further investigated TB transmission among native and foreign born patients in Guadeloupe (subgroup of cases from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2011). Results obtained revealed that migrants in Guadeloupe had an increased risk of developing TB with an incidence rate seven times higher than in native subjects in 2010 (33.4 vs. 5.5 new cases/100,000 inhabitants). These results will be discussed in the context of MIRu typing results, and ongoing epidemiological and drugresistance surveillance studies as well a phylogenic characterisation of M. tuberculosis isolates circulating in the region. P171 POPULATIONAL-BASED SURVEY OF MOLECULAR AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL LINKS BETWEEN HUMAN AND ANIMAL INFECTIONS BY MyCOBaCTERIUM BOvIS Beatriz Romero1, Juan José Palacios2, Yurena Navarro3, María Francisca Copano4, Lucía de Juan5, Julio Alvarez6, Tatiana Alende1, Lucas Domínguez5, Darío García de Viedma7 1 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (visavet), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, CEI Campus Moncloa, UCM-UpM, Madrid, Spain 2 CEI Campus Moncloa, UCM-UpM, Madrid, Spain 3 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (VISAVET), Madrid, Spain; CEI Campus Moncloa, UCM-UPM, Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Microbiología Clínica y Enfermedades Infecciosas. hospital general Universitario Gregorio Marañón; Inst. Investigación Sanitaria gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain 4 Laboratorio de Sanidad animal de Jove, gijón, Spain 5 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (Visavet), Madrid, Spain; CEI Campus Moncloa, UCM-UPM, Madrid, Spain; Dpto. Sanidad AnimalFacultad de veterinaria, UCM, Madrid, Spain 6 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (Visavet), Madrid, Spain; 9Inst. Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRyCIS), Madrid, Spain 7 CEI Campus Moncloa, UCM-UpM, Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Microbiología Clínica y Enfermedades Infecciosas. hospital general Universitario Gregorio Marañón; Inst. Investigación Sanitaria gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain; CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Spain Mycobacterium bovis is the main causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) in animals and few cases of human tuberculosis due to this pathogen have been reported in industrialised countries. In Spain, around 2% of the human TB cases are caused by M. bovis. The prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle herds in Asturias (North Spain) is very low (0.14 in 2011) in comparison with the overall prevalence in the rest of the country (1.33 in 2011). From 2006 to 2011 seventeen patients with M. bovis infection were detected in Asturias. All corresponded to Spanish-born cases, two were HIv-positive and the average age was 61.4. In most cases existed the possibility of a reactivation of an ancient TB infection by immunosuppression (i.e age, HIv, respiratory dysfunction). To challenge this hypothesis and to evaluate potential recent transmission events we carried out the molecular characterization of the M. bovis isolates following a two-step scheme. Firstly, human cases were genotyped by spoligotyping and secondly, MIRu-vNTR was applied to the human isolates together with all animal isolates (N=74) from the farms located in their health-care area sharing spoligotype with the human case. Genotyping of these isolates showed eight (47%) human cases sharing identical or highly similar genotype (differences in one out of nine vNTR loci) with an animal isolate. A coordinated epidemiological research was carried out in order to support the molecular matches and direct or indirect (farmer, livestock dealer, or consumers of unpasteurized milk) relationships with animal farms were found in five of them. Isolates from two human cases living in the same city were clustered between them, suggesting potential human-human transmission. Our study constitutes a model of integrative collaboration between human health and veterinary efforts and means a snapshot of the transmission dynamics of M. bovis in the humananimal interphase. P175 RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS FOR DIAGNOSIS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS Huseyin Guducuoglu, Abdullah Bektas Yüzüncü Yıl University School of Medicine Medical Microbiology, van, Turkey 73 In this study aims to be whether suitability of samples for diagnosis algorithm of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the last three years. The samples obtained from June-2010 to March-2013 were submitted to the laboratory for diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 1036 samples were studied with the Ehrlich-Ziehl-Neelsen paint. various culture methods such as Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium-BacT/ALERT® 3D and the BD BACTEC™ MGIT™ 320 Mycobacteria Culture System were applied to the 508 samples. In addition, the real-time PCR method was applied to the only 138 samples. In general, for diagnosis of AFB, 2 or 3 sample were ordered for each patient on the other hand only one sample for each patient was ordered for culture. For 21 AFB positive samples, 13 cultures and 6 PCR were positive, 5 culture and 1 PCR were negative. For 1015 AFB negative samples, 9 cultures and 6 PCR were positive while 467 cultures and 103 PCR were negative. Furthermore, 79 samples were examined with PCR and culture method. For these samples, 3 were positive for culture and PCR, 78 samples were negative culture and PCR, 2 samples were positive for culture and negative PCR, and 6 samples were identifiedasculture-negative,PCR-positive. AFB and culture is likely to be inadequate to determine Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Therefore, PCR seems to be necessary. However it should be also considered the clinical table of the patient to decide whether PCR to be necessary or not. Hence, the appropriate algorithm should be suggested to diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Coordinating the methods employed in the Member States for diagnosing diseases; 2) Assisting actively in the diagnosis of disease outbreaks in Member States; 3) Facilitating the initial or further training of experts in laboratory diagnosis with a view to the harmonisation of diagnostic; 4) Collaborating with the competent laboratories in third countries where those diseases are prevalent; and 5) Conducting initial and further training courses for the benefit of staff from national reference laboratories and of experts from developing countries. Takingthesespecificresponsibilitiesandtasksinmind the Eu-RL has designed an online database within its website (www.bovinetuberculosis.eu) that allows all the National Reference Laboratories to consult the protocols used in other Member States in order to facilitate harmonization of techniques throughout the Community, in particular specifying standard test methodologies. The Bovine Tuberculosis Protocols Database compile all the information submitted from alltheNRLstodefinethestateoftheartofthedifferent methodologies (culture, extraction & identification, molecular characterization and interferon gamma detection) used all over Europe. This information is evaluated by the Eu-RL and different activities are performed (proficiency tests, evaluation of culture media, determination of analytical sensitivity, etc.) towards harmonization of protocols. Moreover, among other activities, the Eu-RL gives technical and laboratory support to all NRLs and send reference reactives upon request (control strains, DNA, DvR-spoligotyping membranes, etc.). P176 P197 EUROPEAN UNION REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS: AN USEFUL TOOL TOWARDS HARMONIZATION OF PROTOCOLS Beatriz Romero1, Javier Bezos1, Carmen Casal Comendador1, Julio Alvarez2, Francisco Lozano1, Nuria Moya1, Lucía de Juan3 1 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (visavet), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 2 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (visavet), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRyCIS), Madrid, Spain. 3 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (visavet), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Sanidad animal, Facultad de veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain In 2008 the European union Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis (vISAvET Health Surveillance Centre, Madrid, Spain) was designated with the main activities (Commission Regulation 737/2008) of 1) 74 RAPID DIAGNOSIS, MOLECULAR TYPING PATTERNS AND DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY PROFILES OF MYCOBACTERIA ISOLATED FROM PATIENTS WITH TUBERCULOUS MENINGITIS IN ANKARA GÜLNUR TARHAN1, Hülya Şimşek2, Salih CESUR3, Ismail CEYHAN4 1 Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir, Turkey 2 national public health agency, ankara Turkey 3 Etlik Training and Research hospital, ankara, Turkey 4 4atatürk Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research hospital, ankara, Turkey Background: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most severe and lethal form of tuberculosis. Conventional microscopy and culture has limited utility for the paucibacillary nature of cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)andtimeconsuming. Rapidandspecific diagnosis of tubercular meningitis is of paramount importance to decrease morbidity and mortality. In this study, we aimed to evaluate rapid diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis by COBAS Amplicor MTB and Rotor Gene Real Time PCR, molecular typing and drug susceptibility . Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 468 patients of tubercular meningitis, tubercular ascites and tubercular lymphadenitis in 7 years. All specimens were evaluated smear microscopy, Löwenstein Jensen culture and MGIT culture system. COBAS Amplicor MTB and Rotor Gene Real Time PCR were studied in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Culture positive specimens were evaluated by spoligotyping for molecular typing. Drug susceptibility patterns were determined using conventional proportion method. Results: using culture results as gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPv) of the COBAS Amplicor MTB and Rotor Gene Real Time PCR were, repectively, 71%, 98.8%, 97.8% and 75% for COBAS Amplicor MTB and 80%, 98.9%, 99% and 80 % for Rotor Gene Real Time PCR. According to spoligotyping method, all isolatesweredefinedasLAM7-TUR.Allisolateswere found susceptible to isoniazid, rifampin,streptomycin and ethambutol. P198 POPULATION STRUCTURE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN TWO GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTANT AREAS OF ARGENTINA Johana Monteserin1, Ana Etchart2, Ana Reniero3, Beatriz López1, Viviana Ritacco4 1 Instituto nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas anlis “Carlos g. Malbran”, Buenos aires, argentina 2 hospital San Roque, Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy, argentina 3 hospital Central, San Isidro, Buenos aires, argentina 4 Instituto nacional de Enfermedadeinfecciosas anlis “Carlos g. Malbran”, Buenos aires, Argentina; National Council for Scientific Research (COnICET), Buenos aires, argentina Argentina is a large South American country with diverse areas regarding physical geography, ethnic composition and TB epidemiology. The cosmopolitan area of Buenos Aires in the pampas presents medium TB rates and receives migrants from highly endemic TB areas of Argentina and neighbor countries. Jujuy, an Andean province predominantly inhabited by native Americans, presents one of the highest TB rates in the country. We present an insight into the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure in those two areas which are 1,600 km distant from each other. We analyzed 383 isolates (one per patient): 158 were obtained in Jujuy in 2011-2012, and 225 were collected in a Northern suburban district of Buenos Aires in 2003-2007 and 2010-2012. Spoligotyping was used for genotype assignation according to the SITvIT database (www.pasteur-guadeloupe.fr:8081/ SITvITDemo). In Jujuy the isolates displayed 56 different spoligotypes. The family composition was: LAM 35%, Haarlem31%,ill-definedT24%,S2%,andorphan 8%; the predominant shared types were SIT 50 H3 17%, SIT 33 LAM3 14% and SIT 42 LAM9 10%. In Buenos Aires we found 79 different spoligotypes. Frequencies of M. tuberculosis families were: LAM 37%,ill-definedfamilyT34%,Haarlem17%,S3%,U 2%, Beijing 1%, X 0.4%, and orphan 6%. Frequencies in Buenos Aires were similar to those previously found in a Western suburban district of the city. In Jujuy, Haarlem strains were significantly more frequent (p<0.0012), and T strains less frequent (p<0.015) than in Buenos Aires. Of the 26 SIT-orphan strains found in the study, 18 were grouped in 8 domestic clusters of 2-5 isolates. None of the SIT-orphan clustered strains matched any of the >1000 spoligotypes from other Ibero-American countries deposited in our database, suggesting that those SIT-orphan genotypes might be autochthonous. The overall M. tuberculosis genotype distribution observed in Argentina is in range with those reported for other South American countries, with predominance of LAM strains and local variations among the other two major Euro-American families. P214 PERFORMANCE OF SPOLIGOTYPING IN ExTRAPULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS DIAGNOSIS IN PATIENTS ATTENDING A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL Wellman Ribon1, Magda Lorena Orduz Zambrano2 1 grupo de Inmunología y Epidemiología Molecular, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia 2 grupo de Inmunología y Epidemiología Molecular, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia; Master Student Biomedical Science, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia Background: extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases represent 15 to 20% of tuberculosis cases in Colombia. Although, extrapulmonary tuberculosis does not represent transmission risk, the patients develop serious medical conditions. The diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis is not easy by using conventional methodologies such us smears and culture because they are paucibacillary samples. The development of molecular biology has allowed the implementation PCR based test the diagnosis of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. Objective: implementation of spoligotyping for diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in clinical samples. 75 Methods: analysis of 63 samples of patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Santander, Colombia which were extrapulmonary tuberculosis suspected. Each sample was processed in order to performe acid-fast stains, the fluorescent auramine-rhodamine stain and Ziehl-Neelsen stain, culture in Löwestein Jensen medium and the DNA was extracted from with CTAB method, following to amplify DR region by PCR and hybridization by spoligotyping. Results and discussions: the analyzed samples corresponds a bone marrow aspirate (1/63), node biopsy(1/63), liver biopsy (3/63), skin biopsy(1/63), bloodculture(1/63),gastricfluid(3/63),cerebrospinal fluid (26/63), ascitic fluid (3/63), urine(2/63), pleural fluid(20/63), pericardial fluid(2/63). Of those 63 analyzed samples, 2 were positive for Ziehl-Neelsen stain and 1 in Löwestein Jensen medium. For spoligotyping 56 were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 7 negative M. tuberculosis. The morefrequentlysampleswerecerebrospinalfluidand pleuralfluidandthefamiliesidentifiedforspoligotyping were T1 (29/56), LAM9 (5/56), MANu2 (3/56), u (3/56) and 14/56 were the patterns that are not reported in the SpolDB4. Conclusion: The spoligotyping is a good methodology that allows rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis in extrapulmonary specimens, and furthermore typing of the genotype of M. tuberculosis involved in the infection, that contribute to molecular epidemiology and control to disease. Acknowledgments: Mycobacterium, Laboratorio de Investigación y Extensión, Grupo de Inmunología y Epidemiología Molecular, Maestría Ciencias Básicas Biomédicas, universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia. P219 GENETIC DIVERSITY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx STRAINS ISOLATED IN THE NORTH-WESTERN AND CENTRAL COUNTIES OF ROMANIA IONELA SORINA MUNTEAN1, Adriana Drăgan1, Daniela Homorodean2, ANDREEA JODAL2, Sven Hoffner3 1 pneumophtisiology hospital Brasov 2 Clinical hospital of pneumology Leon Daniello, national Reference Laboratory, Cluj-napoca, Romania 3 Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Solna; Supranational Reference Laboratory Stockholm, Sweden Background: Spoligotyping (spacer oligonucleotide typing) is a genotyping technique that assesses the genetic diversity of the direct repeat locus. It is a fast and highly reproducible method useful for clinical laboratory and molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis. Objectives: The assessment of the predominant 76 strain lineages among drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from the NorthWestern and Central counties of Romania. Material and methods: We studied 197 clinical isolates of drug resistant strains of M.tuberculosis. DNA was extracted by sonication and sent to the Supranational TB Reference Laboratory Stockholm for spoligotyping. The 197 strains originate from 14 counties of Romania. 180 (91.4%) were MDR-TB strains, 13 (6.6%) were isoniazid mono-resistant strains and 4 (2%) were rifampicin mono-resistant strains. Results: 179 (90.9%) from all the strains had a shared international type number (SIT). They were grouped in 11 clusters, the biggest one containing alone 56 strains.The studied strains were identified as belonging to the next families: Haarlem1 (56/197, 28.4%), T1 (30/197, 15.2%) T2 (23/197, 11.7%), S (16/197, 8.1%), Haarlem 3 and Haarlem 4 -each(15/197, 7.6%), T3 (13/197, 6.6%). An amount of18(9.1%)isolateswerenotidentifiedinSpolDB4 database. Strain families are distributed uniform in the 13 counties. Conclusions: A. The high degree of clustering and the domination of the Haarlem family among the tested strains. B. No Beijing family strain was found among these strains. P220 MOLECULAR GENOTYPING CONFIRMS TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION TRANSMISSION IN HOUSEHOLD CONTACTS AS THE MAIN INFECTION TRANSMISSION ROUTE AMONG CHILDREN Viesturs Baumanis1, Iveta Ozere2, Inta Jansone1, Anda Nodieva2, Ilva Pole1, Matiss Bauskenieks1, Girts Skenders2 1 Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia 2 Riga East University hospital, Clinic of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Riga, Latvia Tuberculosis (TB) incidence decreased from 74 per 100.000 population in 1998 till 36.2 in 2011 in Latvia, however increased by 10% in 2012 including children TB. Every month about 5 new cases of children TB have been registered in spite of practically total BCG vaccination and comparably low absolute numbers of incidence. Therefore actual are studies about infectious sources for chlidren TB which being performed for prolonged time scale may clearly characterise infection transmission and elaborate protective measures. The goal of present study is to analyse isolated form children Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT) genotypes with that ones of possible infectious sources and analyse infection transmission routes among children. 79 MT isolates (2000-2012) from children with diagnosed TB and their possible infectious contacts were analysed by IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism and spoligotyping methods. Grouping of RFLP`s was performed with BioNumerics software using uPMG and Dice similarity. Found RFLP patterns were compared with that of local database and spoligotype in the SITvIT . In 10% cases bacterial cultivation was successful of clinically diagnosed TB only. Genotyping data in comparison with possible infectious sources in 49 cases (62%) was identical, so confirming infection transmission. Clustering rate was 40% in contrast with the adult group where it is about 65% indicating, that infection transmission in children collectives is not actual. 10 (12%) of children isolates had no anologues in that ones our data base, indicating on circulating in the society of undiagnosed TB cases. Comparably low was percentage of Beiging genotype, but multi drug resistant isolates which among new cases is the same than in adult group ~16%. In two cases the spectrum fo drug resistance was stated to be as extensive. Based on molecular genotyping of MT solates analysis of family and social contacts clearly demonstrarted prevalence of houshold infection transmission among children and indicates directions where protective measures should be concentrated P227 WHOLE GENOME SEqUENCING REVEALS LOCAL TRANSMISSION PATTERNS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM BOvIS IN SYMPATRIC CATTLE AND BADGER POPULATIONS Roman Biek1, Anthony O‘Hare1, David Wright2, Tom Mallon3, Carl McCormick3, Richard Orton1, Stanley McDowell3, Hannah Trewby1, Robin Skuce3, Rowland Kao1 1 University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK 2 queens University Belfast, Belfast, UK 3 agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, veterinary Sciences Division, Belfast, UK Whole genome sequencing (WGS) holds great promise as a tool for studying the transmission dynamics of an observed epidemic involving a largely un-sampled ‘reservoir’ host, as is the case for bovine tuberculosis (TB) in British and Irish cattle and badgers. However, such data can require considerable interpretation, particularly if used to infer patterns of fine-scale transmission dynamics. Mathematical models are ideal vehicles for this interpretation, however approaches integrating models and genetic data require good datasets to validate them. Here, we analyse bovine TB transmission dynamics in Northern Irish cattle and badgers, where there are extensive demographic and livestock movement data, in combination with M. bovis sequences from a spatially clustered group of infected cattle and badgers. Comparing WGS data to mathematical transmission models showed good correlations between the distributions of single nucleotide polymorphisms and the spatial and within-herd contact structure, but poor correspondence to the network of cattle movements linking them. Despite badgers being under-sampled, our data provided evidence for recent, ongoing transmission events between the two host species, and an unprecedented resolution of the spatial correlation between these. These results provide the first direct genetic evidence of M. bovis persistence on farms over multiple outbreaks with a continued, ongoing interaction with M. bovis in badgers. There was also genetic evidence consistent with cattlecattle transmission in some of the study herds. P230 MULTIDRUG RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS EPIDEMIC IN SWAZILAND: ONGOING TRANSMISSION OF MULTIDRUG RESISTANT MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS STRAINS M. Merker1, E. Sanchez2, P. Beckert1, F. Jochims3, M. Bonnet2, Th. Dlamini4, M. Bastard2, H. Koarakozian3, S. Rüsch-Gerdes1, S. Niemann1 1 Molecular Mycobacteriology, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, germany 2 Epicentre, paris, France 3 Medecins Sans Frontieres,geneva, Switzerland 4 national Tuberculosis Control programme, Mbabane, Swaziland Emergence and effective transmission of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) strains have been reported in several countries worldwide and threaten local and global TB control. Especially in Sub-Saharan Africa the TB epidemic has been accelerated by both, high HIv/TB co-infection rates and the emergence of MDR strains. To avoid a wide unrecognized spread of MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strains, it is necessary to systematically monitor resistancelevelsanddeterminefactorsinfluencingthe MDR epidemic in several Sub-Saharan countries. To address this question, we performed a national drug resistance survey in 2009-2010 in Swaziland, a small kingdom within South Africa with the world’s highest HIv/TB prevalence. Screening of 988 patients revealed MDR-TB rates of 7.7% and 33.8% among new cases and previously treated cases, respectively. The high level of MDR TB in new cases already indicated ongoing transmission of MDR-TB within the population and an urgent need for strengthening diagnostics and treatment facilities. To further investigate recent transmission levels and association between population structure and MDRTB, 412 isolates including all drug resistant strains were investigated by genotyping (24-loci MIRu-vNTR typing and spoligotyping) and Sanger sequencing of known resistance conferring genes (katG, inha, 77 rpoB, embB, pnca). The population structure was dominated by strains of the MTBC belonging to the S-type (8.6%), X-type (15.5%), LAM (23.3%) and Beijing lineage (23.7%). Furthermore, we determined high clustering rates among MDR strains that were confirmed by particular profiles of drug resistance mutations. In the multivariate analysis, MDR-TB was associated with S-type (OR 4.02), HIv infection (OR 2.86), female gender (OR 1.98) and clustering (8.70). Nor Beijing strains (OR 0.06) neither LAM strains (OR 0.12) were associated. In conclusion, our study identified unrecognized transmission of MDR strains as a major driver of the MDR epidemic in Swaziland. These data emphasize the need for an ongoing control of MDR-TB transmission in MDR-TB/HIv high burden countries like Swaziland, to evaluate the success and limitations of newly introduced diagnostics tools, e.g. the Xpert MTB/RIF and to prevent the expansion of highly transmissible MDR MTB clones. P231 TB-MINER, AN ON-LINE TOOL TO DESCRIBE CLASSIFICATION OF M. TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx BASED ON THE WIDE SCALE DIVERSITY OF THE NETHERLANDS DATABASE Jérôme Azé1, Guislaine Refrégier2, Kristin Kremer3, Dick van Soolingen4, Christophe Sola2 1 Université paris-Sud, Laboratoire de Recherche En Informatique, Orsay, France 2 Université paris-Sud-Cnrs, Institut de génétique Et Microbiologie, Infection genetics Emerging pathogen Evolution Team, Orsay, France 3 Who Regional Office for Europe; Tuberculosis and M/XDR-TB programme, Copenhagen, Denmark 4 national Institute for public health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands; Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University nijmegen Medical Centre, nijmegen, netherlands This study shows the synergism between knowledge discovery using data (KDD) methods and high throughput genomics (24 vNTR loci and spoligotyping analysis). By using Weka® on the Dutch tuberculosis genotyping database, we increased our understanding of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) taxonomy and epidemiology. We propose 14 spoligotype-based larger genotype families; M. africanum 1, M. africanum 2, Beijing, M. bovis, CAM, CAS, EAI, H, LAM, S, T, TuR, ural and X as compared tothebroaderclassificationin6lineageofGagneux et al. To share this knowledge, we provide an online tool; TBminer, that classifies genotypes based on both spoligotyping and vNTR analysis, and that summarizes key molecular epidemiological data. In total 3454 clinical isolates were retrieved from as 78 many patients diagnosed with tuberculosis in the Netherlands in the period 2004-2008. Genotyping was performed using: (1) 24-vNTR run on capillary sequencers, (2) spoligotyping run on Luminex® 200, (3) IS6110-RFLP. vNTR typing produced the highest degree of discrimination. Spoligotyping was confirmed a very powerful classifier in genotype families. To balance potential convergence events in spoligotyping, we also tested a combination of induction algorithms relying on 24 vNTR data and 14 families classification mentioned above. Most non-matching genotypic data concerned isolates classified as T or LAM already pinpointed for their lower phylogenetic relevance. As the number of genotyping techniques expands for each pathogen, this type of approach could be transferred to other pathogens to take best advantage of all available information. P241 DISTRIBUTION AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF FOCI OF TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE AND DEERS IN THE SOUTH OF BEIRA INTERIOR (PORTUGAL) Luis Caiola Ribeiro1, Paulo Fernandez2, Manuel Martins2 1 general Direction of Feed and veterinary, portugal 2 School of agriculture, polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, portugal Bovine Tuberculosis (BT) disease is an animal with high economic impact. The etiologic agent of this disease is the bacteria Mycobacterium bovis which, in addition to affect cattle, also causes tuberculosis in other mammalian species, such this in study: Cattle (Bos taurus), Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), including humans and are thus included in the category of zoonotic diseases. The transmission of infectious disease is closely related to the concepts of spatial and space-time proximity, so that the transmission will have a greater probability of the larger sharing these concepts by the individuals at risk. The epidemiological analysis should take into account the two concepts. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are now considered an essential and valuable tool in epidemiology. The analysis of spatial visualization, exploration and modeling allows a more thorough knowledge about the spatial and temporal dynamics of the disease, and can be used for suggesting and support new epidemiological hypotheses. The use of GIS technologies (Average Nearest Neighbor, Global Moran I, Local Moran I (LISA), Getis-Ord Gi* Statistics (Hot-Spots) and Ellipse Standard Deviation (Directional Deviation)) analyze and describe spatial patterns of distribution of BT in parishes of nUtS III: Beira Interior Sul (Portugal) The results revealed during the study period (20012010), an average prevalence of Bovine Tuberculosis in cattle for mainland Portugal is 0.10%, for Beira Interior is 0.09% and 0.42% in Beira Interior Sul. For the average prevalence in farms was 0.29% in Portugal, 0.24% in nUtS II: Beira Interior and 2.37% in nUtS III: Beira Interior South. The results will lead to support decision-making in relation to cattle and their handling, and hunting and repopulation of wild ungulates. A spatial statistical analysis applied to counties with outbreaks of TB in cattle was detected clusters and correlations in two parishes (Castelo Branco and Rosmaninhal) and dispersion in two others (Monforte and Monfortinho). The spatial autocorrelation (Global and Local) sensed distances between 13 and 25 km as being those where the grouping is more intense, and regarded as Hot Spot areas of the parishes of Malpica do Tejo, Monforte, Rosmaninhal, Ladoeiro, Segura and Zebreira. The dispersion or clustering of outbreaks may be related to the proximity of the farms, with the scattering properties, with the exchange of animals between farms of the same owner, buying and selling animals or with health problems (s) Producer (s). Regarding the activity of hunting, the beats and mounts can lead to deers are “pushed” to more remote locations, which increase their dispersal, which increases the likelihood of spread of pathogens. The proximity to Spain may have some relationship intheareasofinfluenceofhotspotsdeterminedby spatial statistics, since hunting wild animals roam freely and with ease between the two states. P242 TUBERCULOSIS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AT RISK GROUPS: CASUISTRY FROM THE CURRENT TIME Maria Müllerová , M. Vašáková , E. Kopecká , J. Homolka2, J. Pohl2, K. Křepela2 1 Laboratory of Mycobacteriology, Citylab Ltd., prague, Czech Republic 2 Department of pneumology, prague, Czech Republic 1 2 2 Tuberculosis is still an important infectious disease, as old as humanity itself. In the Czech Republic there is an ongoing trend of declining incidence of TB, including TB in children. In November 2010 the area-wide vaccination of children ended and in 2012 it was switched to selective vaccination of groups atrisk. The Czech Republic lying in the heart of Europe is a crossroad for migrants and immigrants bearing risk of importing tuberculosis, including its MDR-TB form. The most important risk group are foreigners from countries with high TB incidence, often with MDR-TB, the treatment of which is time-consuming and costly. Other risk groups are homeless people, squatters, unemployed people, alcoholics, but also people under stress and work strain. We present the following case reports of TB patients from highrisk groups from recent time period: 1) unvaccinated child of mixed marriage, a Czech mother, a father from Africa, treated for TB process. Child inspected ascontactwithTBfather.TBforchildconfirmedby X-ray and also by gastric lavage and BAL: BACTEC MGIT 960 and cultivation positive, MTD test probable. 2) A boy from China, without proof of vaccination, grandfathertreatedinChinaforlungTB.TBconfirmed by X-ray and from sputum: cultivation, BACTEC MGIT 960 and quantiFERON positive, MTD test probable. 3) An unemployed man from ukraine. TB confirmed from sputum: microscopy, cultivation and MTD test positive. 4) Female from Kyrgyzstan. TB confirmedbyX-ray,cultivationandMTDtestpositive. 5) An unemployed man, alcoholic, living in squat, infected his roommate (contact). Sputum of both men: microscopy, cultivation and MTD test positive. 6) A student with TB infected his younger brother (contact). They both live in a “normal” functioning family, students, since childhood racing sportsmen. Sputum from both: microscopy, cultivation, BACTEC MGIT 960 and MTD test positive. Conclusions: Early diagnosis of new cases, prompt investigation of contacts, proper treatment, supervision of patients, taking into account the patient’s country of origin, and not forgetting selective vaccination of children from risk groups. This all helps to keep the favorable trend of TB incidence in the Czech Republic. P250 CORRELATION BETWEEN STREPTOMYCIN INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL RESISTANCE AND GIDB MUTATION IN AN ENDEMIC MULTIDRUGRESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS CLUSTER Joao Perdigao1, Rita Macedo2, Diana Machado3, Carla Silva1, Luisa Jordao4, Isabel Couto3, Miguel Viveiros3, Isabel Portugal1 1 Uria, Centro de patogénese Molecular, Faculdade de Farmácia Da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, portugal 2 public health Laboratory: Micobacteriology/ Tuberculosis, public health Department, administração Regional de Saúde de Lisboa E vale Do Tejo, I.p., Lisbon, portugal 3 grupo de Micobactérias, Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade nova de Lisboa (Ihmt, Unl), Lisbon, portugal 4 Departamento de Doenças Infecciosas, Instituto nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, portugal Development of streptomycin-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is usually associated with mutations in rpsl and rrs genes, although up to 79 50% of clinical streptomycin-resistant isolates may present no mutation in either of these genes. The situation in Lisbon Health Region is similar, although mutations in rrs gene are only rarely detected. In the present report we investigate the role of gidB gene mutations in streptomycin resistance. We have analyzed 52 streptomycin-resistant and 30 streptomycin-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates by sequencing and endonuclease analysis of the gidB and rpsl genes. All clinical isolates were genotyped by 12-loci MIRu-vNTR. Semiquantitative drug susceptibility testing was also performed to a select set of isolates to assess the resistance levels towards streptomycin. The gidB gene of 18 streptomycin-resistant isolates was sequenced and four missense mutations were found: F12L (1/18), L16R (18/18), A80P (4/18) and S100F (18/18). The remaining isolates were screened by endonuclease analysis for mutations A80P in gidB and K43R in rpsl gene. Overall, mutation A80P in gidB gene was found in 7 streptomycin-resistant isolates and 12 streptomycin-susceptible multidrug resistant isolates. Also noteworthy, comparison of the distribution of gidB, rpsl and rrs mutations revealed that gidB A80P mutation was only present in isolates without rpsl and rrsmutations.Moreover,thisspecific mutation was found among all isolates belonging to genetic cluster q1. Streptomycin quantitative drug susceptibility testing showed that isolates carrying the GidB A80P mutation were streptomycin intermediate-level resistant and that standard drug susceptibility testing yielded inconsistent results probably due to borderline resistance. Bioinformatic analysis on the degree of conservation showed that the GidB A80P mutation is predicted to affect protein function. We conclude that gidB mutations may explain the high number of streptomycin-resistant strains with no mutation in rpsl or rrs. These mutations might occasionally confer undetected streptomycin lowlevel resistance in regular drug susceptibility testing. Also, GidB A80P mutations may serve as surrogate markers for q1 cluster isolates that are associated with multidrug/extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. P257 DANISH MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS OUTBREAK STRAIN IS SPREADING AMONG GREENLANDIC INUIT IN DENMARK AND GREENLAND Troels Lillebaek1, Ase Bengard Andersen1, Erik M. Rasmussen1, Zaza Kamper-Jørgensen1, Matthias K. Pedersen1, Karen Bjoern-Mortensen2, Karin Ladefoged2, Vibeke Ø. Thomsen1 1 Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark 2 Dronning Ingrids Sundhedscenter, nuuk, greenland 80 Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis continues at high rates among Greenlanders in Greenland and Denmark, with 203 and 450 notified cases per 105 populations year 2010, respectively. We can document, that the predominant Danish M. tuberculosis outbreak strain “C2/1112-15” has been transmitted to Greenlanders in Denmark, and subsequently to Greenland, where it is spreading at alarming rates, adding to the already heavy tuberculosis burden in this population group. It is now clear, that “C2/1112-15” is able to multiply in genetically very different populations. Thus, it might have the ability to spread even further keeping in mind the potential clinical consequences of strain diversity, e.g. the widely spread Beijing genotype. The introduction of the predominant C2/1112-15 M. tuberculosis strain into the Inuit community in the Arctic Circumpolar Region is an alarming tendency which deserves attention. We need to monitor whether this strain already have, or will, spread outside The Danish Kingdom. P258 ACTIVE TRANSMISSION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS (MT) CONTINUES AT SURPRISINGLY HIGH RATES IN DENMARK Troels Lillebaek1, Åse Bengård Andersen1, Niels Jørgen Seersholm2, Vibeke Østergaard Thomsen1 1 Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark 2 Copenhagen University hospital gentofte, Copenhagen, Denmark Active transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt) continues at surprisingly high rates in Denmark (DK).Itisseeninspecifichighrisksegments of the population with social problems such as homelessness, alcohol, and/or drug abuse. The patients are infected with the Danish “C”/1112-15” Mt outbreak strain, and the transmission is attributed to delayed diagnosis. The present situation demands increased focus on early tuberculosis diagnosis and control of transmission, and improved actions calls for prioritizing the area politically and economically. MDR DIAGNOSTIC AND DST P15 RESISTANCE PATTERNS TO SECOND-LINE DRUGS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN SPAIN Pilar Ruiz1, Juan B Gutierrez1, Manuel Causse1, Manuel J Casal 1 1 University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain Introduction: The emergence of TB resistant to both first- and second-line drugs (XDRTB) (XXDRTB) is a major cause of concern, particularly because it is associated with elevated mortality. Spain has one of the highest TB rates in Western Europe. Aims: This study sought to investigate secondline drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated at the university Hospital “Reina Sofía”(Córdoba, Spain) from 2006 to2011 as well as in strains kept at a Mycobacterial Reference Center. The most common mutations conferring resistance to thesecond-linedrugswerealsoidentified. Material and Method: Of the total 946 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains analysed, 393 were isolated from 26,183 specimens obtained from patients with clinically-suspected tuberculosis at the university Hospital “Reina Sofía” (Córdoba, Spain) between 2006 and 2011. The remaining 553 strains were referred by various hospitals to the Mycobacterial Reference Center (from an area with 8,240,400 habitants) Drug susceptibility was tested using the BACTEC MGIT 960 automated mycobacterial detection system.Phenotypic resistance was confirmed using the Genotype MTBDR plus test to detect resistance to RIF ( mutations in gene rpoB) and to INH ( mutations in genes inhA and KatG). Strains were genotyped using the Genotype MTBDRsl test, to detect mutations conferringresistancetofluoroquinolones(genegyrA, encoding the DNA gyrase enzyme), aminoglycosides/ cyclic peptides (16S rRNA gene, rrs) and ethambutol (gene embB). Results: Of the 946 strains examined, 156 (16.49%) displayed resistance to at least one first-line drug, while 51 strains (5.39%) were resistant to at least one second-line drug. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was detected in 39 strains (4.12%). Three pre-XDR strains (0.31%) and three XDR strains (0.31%) were detected. The greatest resistance of MDR strains was to rifabutin (35.89%), followed by rifapentine (30.76%), ethionamide (30.76%), capreomycin (12.82%), ofloxacin (10.25%) and kanamycin (2.56%). Most MDR strains resistant to second-line drugs displayed the pattern: RIF+INH+RFB+RFP. The most important patterns of resistance were RIF+I NH+STR+EMB+PZA+CAP+KAN+ETH+OFX+RFB. In strains tested for GyrA mutations associated with fluoroquinolone resistance, the most common mutation was S91P (35.7%), followed by A90v and D94N/y (21.4%). The D94G mutation was found in 7.1% of strains. Testing for rrs gene mutations associated with resistance to AMK/KAN/CAP detected the A1401G mutation in all resistant strains. Conclusions: The resistance detected here to second-line anti-TB drugs confirms the presence ofanewchallengeinthefightagainsttuberculosis. Epidemiological surveillance of resistance to anti-TB drugs based on phenotype and genotype analysis is essential. P27 EVALUATION THE BACT ALERT 3D SYSTEM FOR RECOVERY AND IDENTIFICATION OF MYCOBACTERIA FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES María Rosarys Martínez Romero1, Misleidis Sardiña2, Grechen García2, Lilian María Mederos2 1 pedro Kourí Institute, havana, Cuba 2 national Reference Laboratory in Tuberculosis and Mycobacteria, pedro Kourí Institute, havana, Cuba Background: The rapid diagnosis of M. tuberculosis is essential to implement the adequate antimicrobial therapy and effective control of this disease. Aim: To evaluate a BacT ALERT 3D automatic system for mycobacteria isolates. Methods: Were study 819 clinical samples received at the National Reference Laboratory in Tuberculosis, IPK, from August 2010 to November 2011. The samples were inoculated in parallel in Löwenstein Jensen medium and BacT ALERT 3D automatic system. The results obtained were analyzed and compared by number of isolates, time detection of growth (TDG), contamination rate (CR) and calculated the quality indicators of BacT ALERT 3D automatic system. Results: By Löwenstein Jensen (LJ) was obtained 99 (90%) positives isolates, 102 (92.7%) by BacT ALERT 3D and 89 (80.9%) by two methods simultaneously. The TDG average of BacT ALERT 3D was 16.67 days and 22.50 days for LJ. The CR was 7.4% and 6.7 % for LJ and BacT ALERT 3D, respectively. The concordance between BacT ALERT 3D and LJ was 97.82%.Thesensitivity,specificityandYoudenindex obtained by BacT/ALERT 3D was 97.75%, 98.44% and 0.92, respectively. Conclusions: BacT/ALERT 3D system is a suitable method for recovering mycobacteria from 81 clinical samples. It demonstrated a shorter TDG of mycobacteria than LJ medium which was very useful to start with antimicrobial therapy in patient’s negative smear with human immunodeficiency virus. The LJ culture it must be used in combination with automatic systems for to assure a total mycobacterial recovery. P28 DETECTION OF AMIKACIN RESISTANCE IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS USING THE NITRATE REDUCTASE ASSAY AND THE RESAZURIN MICROTITRE ASSAY Dihadenys Lemus1, Carlos Washington Reyes2, Miguel Echemendia1, Juan Carlos Palomino3, Anandi Martin3 1 Institute of Tropical Medicine pedro Kourí, havana, Cuba 2 Laboratorio provincial de Diagnóstico de Micobacterias de Santa Elena. Instituto nacional de Investigación En Salud pública, Santa Elena, Ecuador 3 ghent University, ghent, Belgium Background: Amikacin (AMK) is one of the recommended second-line drugs for multidrug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) treatment. The recommended methods for AMK susceptibility testing are BACTEC-460 and MGIT-960, both based in growth in liquid media, but their implementation are prohibitive in low-resource countries. The aim of this study was to develop two alternative methods, nitrate reduction assay in liquid media (L-NRA) and resazurin microtitre assay plate (REMA), to investigate resistance to AMK in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Methods: Thirty-one M. tuberculosis strains previously studied by the MGIT-960 were used to validate L-NRA and REMA and then they were applied in 29 M. tuberculosis MDR clinical isolates from Cuba. L-NRA was carried out in Middlebrook 7H9 medium suplemented with OADC (7H9-S) with critical concentration of 1 µg/mL of AMK. REMA was performed in sterile 96-well plate using 7H9-S; AMK range used was 8-0.25 µg/mL. For MDR isolates the rrs gene was investigated by the Genotype MTBDRsl assay. Results: Both, the L-NRA and REMA, showed sensitivities of 100% and specificities of 80.0%. The 81.8% of M. tuberculosis MDR isolates with rrs gene wild type pattern, by the Genotype MTBDRsl assay, were susceptible to AMK by both phenotypic methods;sevenisolateswereclassifiedasresistant by the molecular assay, 85.7% of them had a minimal inhibitory concentration of 8 µg/mL and 71.4% were resistant by the L-NRA. Conclusions: This study shows a high level of agreement of these two low-cost methods for AMK resistance detection. Further standardization is requiredtoimprovetheirspecificities. 82 P37 GENOMIC MUTATION PROFILING OF MULTIDRUG RESISTANCE TUBERCULOSIS ISOLATES USING BY NOVEL GENOTYPE® MTBDRPLUS ASSAY Anand Kumar Maurya1, Surya Kant2, Amresh Kumar Singh3, Ram Awadh Singh Kushwaha2, Manoj Kumar3, Vijaya Lakshmi Nag3, Tapan N Dhole3 1 Department of pulmonary Medicine, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India; Department of Microbiology, Sanjay gandhi post graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India 2 Department of pulmonary Medicine, King george’s Medical University, Lucknow, India 3 Department of Microbiology, Sanjay gandhi postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India Objectives: The emergence and spread of multidrugresistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis poses a significant threat to the global control of tuberculosis. Rapid detection of MDR-TB allows the establishment of an effective treatment regimen; minimizes the risk of further resistance and limits spread of drug resistant strains. The aim of the study was to rapid detection and genomic mutations profiling of rpoB, katG and inhA genes in clinical isolates of MDR-TB by the novel GenoType® MTBDRplus assay in Northern India. Methods: We conducted a prospective study and five hundred fifty specimens were collected from highly suspected of drug resistance of pulmonary tuberculosis and extra pulmonary tuberculosis cases from January 2011 and January 2013; which was processed by Ziehl-Neelson (ZN) staining, culture, differentiation by the GenoType®CMassay,firstline drug susceptibility test (DST) using BacT/ALERT 3D system and GenoType® MTBDRplus assay for performance, frequency and genomic mutation patterns of MDR-TB. Results: Among a total of 550 specimens collected from 423 (76.9%) PTB and 127 (23.1%) EPTB patients of highly suspected cases of treatment defaulters, retreatment and relapse cases, only 103 (18.7%) were AFB positive in ZN microscopy and 257 (46.7%) were positive for mycobacteria by BacT/ALERT 3D system. Among a total of 209 MTBC strains, readable results were obtained from 206 (98.5%) MTBC strains by GenoType® MTBDRplus assay. The sensitivity and specificity of the GenoType® MTBDRplus assay for RIF, INH and MDR-TB strains were 98.0 % (95% CI: 92.88 % - 99.70 %); 98.8 % (95% CI: 93.59 % - 99.80 %), 98.4 % (95% CI: 94.24 % - 99.76 %); 98.8% (95% CI: 93.67 % - 99.81 %) and 98.2 % (95% CI: 90.24 % - 99.70 %); 100.0 % (95% CI: 97.56 % - 100.00 %). Among a total of 55 MDR-TB strains, 45 (81.8%), 52 (94.5%), and 17 (30.9%) strains harbored known mutation in rpoB, katG and inhA genes respectively. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the most prominent mutations in rpoB, katG and inhA genes were 37 in S531L (67.3%), 52 in S315T1 (94.5%), and 11 in C15T (20%) region respectively (p <0.05). We found transmission of prominent mutations is contributing to an unexpected increase in primary resistance, including MDR TB cases in Northern India. GenoType® MTBDRplus assay is a high sensitive, short turnaround, and rapid test for the detection of MDR-TB in northern region of India. Keywords: GenoType® MTBDRplus assay, MDR-TB, M. tuberculosis complex, Tuberculosis. P69 FIELD EVALUATION OF THE DIRECT COLORIMETRIC NITRATE REDUCTASE ASSAY FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS DETECTION OF MDRAND xDR-TB IN ARGENTINA Belen Imperiale1, Nora Morcillo1, Juan Carlos Palomino2, Anandi Martin2 1 hospital Dr. Cetrángolo, Tuberculosis Control program Reference Laboratory, Buenos aires, argentina 2 Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology, ghent University, ghent, Belgium Objectives: The spread of MDR-TB and XDR-TB stresses the need for quick and affordable diagnostic tools, particularly for low- and middle-income countries, with a high prevalence of TB. The objective of this study was to evaluate the previously described Nitrate Reductase Assay for the simultaneous detection of MDR and XDR-TB patients directly on sputum samples (D-NRA). Methods: The performance of D-NRA was compared with the BACTEC MGIT960 assay under routine conditions. Sputum smear-positive samples were decontaminated with the NALC method and inoculated in Lowenstein-Jensen tubes containing drugs and 1 mg/ml of potassium nitrate. The following drugs were tested: rifampicin (RMP), isoniazid (INH), ofloxacin (OFLO), kanamycin (KAN). Consecutive smearpositive samples (n= 92) were prospectively analysed with D-NRA and compared to BACTEC MGIT960 to detect resistance to INH, RMP, KAN and OFLO. PNB was included for the simultaneous identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Results: Out of 92 smear-positive samples, 6 failed to growth and 2 were identified as non-tuberculosis mycobacteria. For the 84 samples that grew, the NRA sensitivity,specificity,positiveandnegativepredictive values for all drugs were 100%. The mean time to obtain results with the D-NRA was 13.9 days and the overall agreement between D-NRA and the BACTEC MGIT960 was 100% for all drugs. Conclusion: D-NRA offers timely drug resistance detection of M. tuberculosis resistance to first- and second-line drugs. D-NRA was user-friendly, easy to implement in limited laboratory facilities and provide an easy interpretation of results by a simple visual change of color. P80 EVALUATION OF THE AID TB RESISTANCE LINE PROBE ASSAY FOR RAPID DETECTION OF GENETIC ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS DRUG RESISTANCE Claudia Ritter1, Katja Lucke4, Frick Sirgel3, Robin Warren3, Erik Böttger1, Guido Bloemberg1 1 Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Universität zürich, zürich, Switzerland 2 nationales zentrum für Mykobakterien, zürich, Switzerland 3 DST/nRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research/MRC Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Division of Molecular Biology and human genetics, Faculty of health Science, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South africa 4 Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Unilabs zurich, zürich, Switzerland Rapid detection of drug resistance mutations facilitates implementation of adequate therapy and limits spread of multi-resistant M. tuberculosis strains. The AID TB Resistance line probe assay (Autoimmun Diagnostika GmbH, Strassberg, Germany) offers screening for the most prevalent mutations confering resistance to isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin, kanamycin,amikacin,capreomycin,fluoroquinolones and ethambutol. using clinical M. tuberculosis isolates from low and high endemic areas (Switzerland, n=110; South Africa, n=67), the line probe assay detected with a 100% accuracy resistance mutations for which oligonucleotide probes are present in the assay. Subsequently, the line probe assay was shown to allow for rapid assessment of drug resistance in early positive broth cultures. Finally, the line probe assay was analysed for direct screening of smear positive clinical specimens. Screening 98 clinical specimens demonstrated that the test gave an interpretable result in> 95%. Antibiotic resistance mutations detected in the clinical sampleswereconfirmedbynucleicacidsequencing and phenotypic testing of the corresponding culture isolates. A 100% agreement between the results of molecular screening of smear positive clinical specimens with that of drug susceptibility testing of the corresponding culture isolates was observed. We conclude that the TB Resistance line probe assay (AID) is an accurate tool for the rapid detection of resistance mutations in cultured isolates and in smear positive clinical specimens. 83 P85 A NEW COLORIMETRIC PLATE FOR THE RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF ExTENSIVELY DRUGRESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS DIRECTLY IN SPUTUM SAMPLES Beatriz Lopez1, Lucia Barrera1, Martha Ambroggi2, Susana Poggi2, Peter Vandamme3, Juan Carlos Palomino3, Viviana Ritacco1, Anandi Martin3 1 Instituto nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas anlis “Carlos g. Malbran”, Buenos aires, argentina 2 Laboratorio de Micobacteriología, hospital F. J. Muñiz; CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 3 Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, ghent University, gent, Belgium Objectives: The nitrate reductase assay (NRA) assay was recently approved by WHO for rapid rifampicin and isoniazid susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A modification of the technique is proposed, which consists in employing a multi-well plate format and enriched agar medium. The objective of this study is to evaluate the plateNRA directly on sputum samples (D-NRA) for early detection of extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB). Methods: This preliminary study is currently performed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Smearpositive sputum samples from 26 consecutive TB patients at risk of treatment failure were assayed. Sputa were decontaminated with NALC-NaOH. Rifampicin,isoniazid,ofloxacin,kanamycin,amikacin and capreomycin were tested at 1, 0.2, 2, 6, 2, and 5 µg/ml, respectively, in 24-well plates containing Middlebrook 7H11-KNO3 agar. P-nitrobenzoic acid (PNB) was used for differentiating M. tuberculosis from other mycobacteria, and PRa-hsp65 was used asspeciesidentificationreferencemethod.Accuracy, turnaround time and cost were evaluated using the MGIT 960 system as gold standard method. Results: Out of 26 samples, 2 were both MGIT and NRA negative. The other 24 were identified as M. tuberculosis complex by both PNB test and PRA-hsp65. One NRA result for capreomycin was indeterminate and one isoniazid well was found contaminated. As for the remaining results, only one discordance was observed between both methods. ThesensitivityandthespecificityoftheD-NRAwas 100% for all drugs except for capreomycin with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 94.7%. The detection rate on day 14 was 50% for D-NRA and 9.5% for MGIT. Mean time to results was 16.5 and 21.9 days, respectively (P: <0.001). The local cost of supplies per sample was uS$24.7 for D-NRA and uS$50.5 for MGIT. Conclusion: Advantages of this fast colorimetric plate version include simplification of media dispensing and/inoculation procedures, and reduction of storage/ 84 incubation space. Plate-NRA is simple and appears to be accurate to detect XDR-TB. In comparison with the MGIT system, D-NRA was faster and cheaper. P95 RPOB POLYMORPHISMS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx FROM A POPULATION IN GUINEA-BISSAU AF Sutre1, A Sanca2, A Mané2, V Henriques2, C Portugal3, Luisa Sancho3, A Cardoso1, E Paixão1, CqF Leite4, JI Salem5, A Antunes6, EL Duarte7, S David1 1 Instituto nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge (Insa,Ip), Lisbon, portugal 2 Cumura hospital, Cumura, the Republic of guinea-Bissau 3 Serviço de patologia Clínica, hospital Fernando Fonseca, amadora, portugal 4 Faculty of pharmaceutical Science – UnESp, araraquara (Sp), Brazil 5 Instituto nacional de pesquisas da amazônia, Manaus, Brazil 6 Instituto de higiene e Medicina Tropical/ UnL, Lisbon, portugal 7 Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia/ ICaaM, Universidade de Évora, Évora, portugal The global tuberculosis (TB) threat is difficult to evaluate in countries with scarce laboratory facilities where little is known about the genetic basis of drug resistance, including the rpoB RRDR (rifampicin resistance determining region) of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC). The present study aimed at performing a preliminary evaluation of rpoB polymorphisms in a DNA set of MTC isolates from Guinea-Bissau patients. Ninety-four sputum specimens (74 bleach processed and 20 unprocessed) were sent to Lisbon for molecular analysis (n=94) and drug susceptibility testing (n=20). A 369bp region of the rpoB gene (including the 81bp RRDR), was amplified. Sequencing was used as the gold standard for the identification of point mutations. Two polymorphisms were identified: The alteration S531L, present in 3.2% of the specimens, and a new mutation, present in 28.7%, corresponding to nucleotide and amino acid polymorphism C224T and S469L, respectively, detected upstream from the RRDR, and not associated with RMP resistance. An NCBI BLAST revealed M. tuberculosis K85 (M. africanum) as the only strain presenting this polymorphism. The circulation of S531L mutated stains, associated with RMP resistance, points to the urgent need to further investigate RMP resistance in this African region. Moreover, the strains presenting the S469L polymorphism showed no other mutations suggesting that its role on RMP susceptibility/ resistance or in providing a genetic background for the occurrence of RMP resistance associated mutations should be further investigated. Also, future genotyping studies could clarify whether this new mutation is a genetic signature of some M. africanum strains. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Luso-American Development Foundation (LACR Award program). P121 ExPAND-TB: ExPERIENCE OF ESTABLISHING TB LABORATORIES IN LIMITED RESOURCES SETTINGS IN EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA Alexei Korobitsyn1 ; K. Kao, C.N. Paramasivan, D. Orozco FInD, geneva, Swizerland Background:In2009,UNITAIDapprovedafiveyear project (EXPAND-TB) implemented as a collaboration between uNITAID, WHO, GLI, FIND and the Stop TB Partnership GDF, to accelerate access to new, rapid and WHO endorsed diagnostic technologies for patients at risk of MDRTB in 27 countries, including 8 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and uzbekistan. Methods: Political commitment for implementation of the project was obtained by signing of MOus with each country Ministry of Health. The status of selected laboratories in each country was assessed and the necessary infrastructure and biosafety upgrades implemented in collaboration with the national laboratory services and local/international partners. Equipment, reagents and supplies for liquid culture and DST, line probe assay (LPA), and rapid speciation, were procured for each laboratory based on need. Technology transfer was initiated, including onsite validation of techniques, quality assurance, capacity building for staff to use the new tools through training and regular mentoring in collaboration with the supporting SRLs. National diagnostic algorithms were revised and endorsed by local authorities to incorporate the new diagnostic tools; and quality assured routine testing and diagnosis of TB and MDRTB was initiated. Results: A total of 19 laboratories in 8 countries are targeted for support under the EXPAND-TB project, 13 of these are already providing quality assured routine diagnostic services. A cumulative 10,245 MDRTB cases (34% of regional and 8,9% of global target) have been diagnosed and reported in 7 countries excluding Kazakhstan, where EXPAND TB supported routine diagnostic services are still to start. The supported technologies have been integrated into the national diagnostic algorithms but continued support is required to ensure rational use of them. Lack of sample transportation in countries is limiting access to the rapid diagnosis of MDRTB just to patients who are close to diagnostic locations. Conclusion: In spite of major obstacles for the project start up, we have successfully supported TB laboratory operations in the region, contributing to narrowing the diagnosis gap for MDRTB cases. The establishment of TB laboratory networks in resource limited settings is requiring political commitment, collaboration between various government departments and partners. The major limitations to rapidly strengthening the laboratory diagnosis of MDRTB are the need for costly infrastructure and biosafety upgrades, human resources scarcity and high turnover, complex custom clearance for imported goods and a lack of a sample transportation system. P131 COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF TK SLC-L, THE RAPID LIqUID MYCOBACTERIAL CULTURE MEDIUM, WITH BACTEC MGIT İhsan Hakkı Çiftçi, Engin Karakeçe Sakarya Univ. Sch. Med. Medical Microbiology, Adapazarı, Turkey Tuberculosis has been for many centuries the most important of the human infections, with its global prevalence, devastating morbidity and massive mortality. Culture is the gold standard method for the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Rapid mycobacterial culture systems are important tools with high sensitivity, for early diagnosis of tuberculosis. The present study was attempted to assess the efficiency of using TK SLC-L (Salubris Inc.), by comparing it to MGIT (Becton Dickinson), in primary isolation of mycobacteria, from clinical samples. Although TK SLC, biphasic medium, has been previously evaluated in several studies, this is the first study evaluating TK SLC-L, the liquid medium. TK Media have the advantage of being ready-to use. Clinical specimens from a total of 146 clinically suspected cases of tuberculosis were studied. The samples were split into two equal parts. One part was decontaminated and concentrated using classical NaOH-NALC (Kubica) method and the other by a new kit, Decomics, which concentrates the samples by absorbent beads, eliminating the need for centrifugation. Each processed sample was evaluated by EZN staining and inoculated into TK SLC-L and MGIT tubes. TK SLC tubes were incubated in Mycolor TK and MGIT tubes in BACTEC MGIT 960. Each growth, indicated by automated systems, was confirmed by making a smear and microscopic evaluation, after EZN staining. Mycobacteria were isolated from 46 patients in samples processed by Kubica method and in 39 patients from samples prepared by Decomics. Mycobacterial growth was positive in 35 TK SLC-L and in 34 MGIT tubes in samples prepared by Kubica method and in 33 TK SLC-L and in 31 MGIT tubes in samples prepared 85 by Decomics. In samples processed with Kubica method, average time to growth detection was 18.3 days, median being 15.1 days in TK SLC-L and 13.0 days, median being 7.7 days in MGIT. In samples processed by Decomics, average time to growth detection was 13.9 days, with a median of 11.0 days in TK SLC-L and 10.5 days in MGIT, with a median of 7.7 days. In samples prepared by Kubica method and Decomics, contamination rates were 1.3% and 6.2% in TK SLC-L and 13.7% and 9.6% in MGIT, respectively. Although growth detection time was approximately 3 to 5 days shorter in average in MGIT, contamination rate was significantly lower in TK SLC-L. The total time spent for the repetition of cultures for contaminated samples in MGIT may make the returning time of culture results equal to the longer detection time required by TK SLC-L. It can be concluded that TK Culture System using TK SLC-L is a good system that may be alternative to other rapid mycobacterial culture systems. P138 DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW DNA MICROARRAY PLATFORM FOR THE DETECTION OF MDR TUBERCULOSIS Andrea M. Cabibbe1, Klaus Reither2, Daniela M. Cirillo1, EDCTP TB CHILD Consortium3, FP7 TM REST Consortium1 1 Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy 2 Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland 3 Ifakara Health Institute, Bagamoyo, Tanzania The emergence of multi drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB), defined as resistance to at least rifampin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH), is jeopardizing TB control in high burden Countries and Eastern Europe. One of the greatest challenges to the control of DR is the lack of adequate laboratory facilities to perform drug susceptibility testing. For this reason more advanced, fast and affordable technologies are needed to strengthen laboratory capacity for diagnosis of DR TB. Afirstgenerationofanewrapidmultiplexedmolecular diagnostic assay for detection of MDR TB by a lab-onchip (LoC, vereMTBTM) was developed within the FP7 TM REST Project. Aim of this study is to evaluate the performances of the improved version of vereMTBTM assay. The vereMTBTM provides an all-in-one device for fast-PCR amplification and detection of targets on a low-density microarray. Most clinically relevant mycobacterial species are identified by targeting the 16S rRNA gene and IS6110 insertion sequence, whereas DR is detected by analyzing rpoB, katG, and 86 inhA as the most frequently mutated genes involved in the MDR phenotype in M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC). A multiplex PCR to amplify all the target genes was developed (to work in the microfluidic chamber of the LoC device). Specific probes for species identification and DRrelated mutation detection were included in the array. The assay allows identifying MTBC, and 10 clinically relevant non-tubercular mycobacterial (NTM) species, including M. avium and M. intracellulare. The assay detects the following mutations involved in DR TB: D516v, S531L, H526D/y (rpoB), S315T (katG), and c-15t, t-8c, t-8a (inhA).Othermutationsareidentified by a negative signal from wild type probes. A second generation of the chip improved the performances of the assay, optimizing the multiplex PCR, and includingaspecificprobeforL511Pmutation(rpoB), 3 replicates on the array for each probe instead of 2, andamplificationcontrolsforeachgene. The overall sensitivity of this new assay on clinical isolates is >99%, >95%, and >97% for MTBC, NTM, and MDR detection, respectively, while specificity is >98%, >98%, and >97%, respectively. A preliminary evaluation on clinical specimens showed valid results in the > 94% of cases on smear positive cases. This integrated PCR and microarray chip tool represents an innovation for its simplicity of use, rapidity and cost-effectiveness, and it’s particularly suitable for different diagnostics purposes, making it indicated for the laboratory routine. P140 EVALUATION OF PHENOTYPIC AND GENOTYPIC DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING METHODS FOR FLUOROqUINOLONE RESISTANCE IN M. TUBERCULOSIS Nele Coeck1, Bouke de Jong2, Leen Rigouts1 1 Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, Mycobacteriology unit, Antwerp, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium 2 Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, Mycobacteriology unit, Antwerp, Belgium Drug-resistant tuberculosis increasingly hinders the success of TB control programs. An important part (35-85%) of clinical M. tuberculosis isolates with phenotypic fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance have mutations in the gyrA gene whereas gyrB mutations are seen occasionally. Clinical data show that Fqs are crucial for successful outcome of MDR-TB treatment. However, the extent of in vitro cross-resistance to the various generations of Fqs remains unclear, including the relation of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for these different Fqs to gyrAgyrB mutations. MIC determination of ofloxacin (OFX), levofloxacin (LVX), moxifloxacin (MFX) and gatifloxacin (GFX) was done in Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) - as the gold standard - and the colorimetric resazurin microtiter assay (REMA) in 54 M. tuberculosis isolates which had been identified as OFX-resistant in routine diagnostic testing (7H11 proportion method, cut-off 2 µg/mL). Thirty-six isolates were simultaneously tested for OFX resistance in MGIT960 (proportion method). In all media, we used 2 µg/mL as cut-off for OFX, 1 µg/mL for LvX, and 0,5 µg/mL for GFX and MFX. Although cross-resistance between the various Fqs in all OFX-resistant isolates was noticed, MICs of the newer generation Fqs (MFX and GFX) were systematically lower. Approximately one third of the OFX-resistant isolates (40,54%) had no gyrAgyrB mutations, of which 66,67% had MICs for OFX of 8 µg/mL or higher in LJ. When comparing OFX susceptibility in REMA and MGIT towards the gold standard, 13 isolates were tested OFX-resistant in both LJ, REMA and MGIT, 7 isolates (6 wild-type and 1 with gyrA mutations) were susceptible in both REMA and MGIT (but resistant in LJ), 8 isolates (3 WT and 5 with gyrA mutations) were susceptible in REMA (but resistant in LJ and MGIT) and 1 isolate (WT) was resistant in MGIT (but susceptible in LJ and REMA). Seven strains were found to be OFX-susceptible in all 3 testing methods. Of the 18 strains which were tested only in REMA and LJ, 4 were susceptible in REMA, yet resistant in LJ (1 WT and 3 with gyrA mutations), and 9 were susceptible in both REMA and LJ. These preliminary results show cross-resistance between the various Fqs, although new generations of Fqs had systematically lower MICs. In addition, probable false-susceptible results in REMA suggest the need for lowering the current used critical concentrations of Fqs in liquid medium (e.g. REMA and MGIT), however a more extensive validation experiment is warranted. Furthermore, the high proportion of wild-type gyrAgyB yet phenotypic Fqresistance suggests the involvement of alternative resistance mechanisms, such as efflux pumps. Hence, an in-depth analysis to these mechanisms is currently ongoing. P141 TB PAN NET CONSORTIUM: SHARED DATABASES FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF MUTATIONS INVOLVED IN DRUG-RESISTANT M. TUBERCULOSIS PHENOTYPE Andrea M. Cabibbe1, Paolo Miotto1, Emanuele Borroni1, Ilaria C. Valente1, Silke Feuerriegel2, Petras Stakenas3, Ewa Augustynowicz-Kopeć4, Vanessa Mathys5, Sven Hoffner6, Stefan Niemann2, Daniela M. Cirillo1 1 Emerging Bacterial pathogens Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy Molecular Mycobacteriology group, national Reference Center for Mycobacteria, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Borstel, germany 3 Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Institute of Biotechnology, vilnius University, vilnius, Lithuania 4 Microbiology Department, national Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Institute, Warsaw, poland 5 Tuberculose & Mycobacteries, Scientific Institute of public health – Institut pasteur, Brussels, Belgium 6 Department for preparedness, Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Solna, Sweden 2 The FP7 TB PAN NET Project aims at providing improved tools to fight drug resistant tuberculosis (DR TB), and assisting industry in the development of new diagnostics and treatment regimens. Better understanding of the relationship relying between the genetic markers of DR and the clinical outcome will permit the establishment of new diagnostic tools with improved effectiveness. We created large databases to collect data on the genetic variants observed in susceptible and resistant clinical isolates. Mutations occurring in genes encoding putative targets for anti-TB drugs detected by sequencing have been included together with phenotypic and genotyping data to evaluate the correlation between the polymorphisms detected, the DR phenotype observed and the genetic background. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration and enzymatic activitywereconsideredtosolvespecificphenotypegenotype correlations. In particular, we focused on pyrazinamide (PZA, about 1200 isolates), fluoroquinolones (FQ) and second-line injectable drugs (SLID, 412 isolates). We included data on specimens leading to uncommon pattern on molecular assays approved by the World Health Organization for fast detection of rifampin (RIF)-R (185 isolates), and on ethionamide (ETH, 52 isolates). All samples were typed by spoligotyping; to solve high clustering rate associated with the Beijing lineage, MIRu-vNTR was included. Concerning the pncA gene leading to PZA-R, we detected that the following codons account for 6570% of mutations: 6 to 15, 46 to 70, 75 to 85, 131 to 145, 171 to 175, and nucleotides -11, -7 in the promoter region. Nearly 90% of SLID-R cases was detected by targeting rrs, eis, and gidB; in addition, certain variations, especially in gidB, appear to be phylogenetically informative rather than markers for DR. The 87% of Fq-R cases harbored mutations in gyrA and gyrB. The S512T, M515I, H526N, S531W, L511q, D516T and other substitutions or deletions accounted for about 50% of “uncommon” patterns in RIF-R cases; analysis of the rpoA and rpoC genes was also included for monitoring compensatory mutations. The 26.9% of ETH-R strains harbored mutations scattered along the entire ethA gene. Our study provides a first insight on the European 87 SNPs-genotype distribution in resistant clinical isolates. Large public data sets constitute the basis for new understanding of molecular patterns associated with DR mechanisms and are precious tools for the design of novel molecular assays. P142 DYNAMIC MICROCOLONY GROWTH MONITORING FOR DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING OF ETHAMBUTOL AND PYRAZINAMIDE Alice den Hertog1, Sandra Menting1, Ernst Smienk1, Sarah Sengstake1, Sven Hoffner2, Richard Anthony1 1 KIT Biomedical Research, amsterdam, netherlands 2 Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Solna, Sweden A complete overview of the susceptibility to available drugs is crucial for the provision of effective therapy and interruption of transmission of drug resistant pathogens. unfortunately, drug susceptibility testing (DST) of some antimycobacterial drugs is technically challenging. We developed a novel culture system for DST, in which the growth of microcolonies from individual CFus is monitored and microcolonies can be (transiently) exposed to drugs to measure growth rate and susceptibility of individual colonies. We previously demonstrated we could distinguish rifampicin (RIF) susceptible and resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within 8 days after inoculation and after only 24 hours exposure to RIF (den Hertog PLoSONE 2010). Whereas rifampicin DST is relatively uncomplicated, DST is more difficult to perform reproducibly for ethambutol (EMB), a drug for which the MIC values of resistant are close to those of susceptible strains, and for pyrazinamide (PZA) which is active only at low pH which can also inhibit mycobacterial growth. A panel of 20 tuberculosis strains with known ethambutol susceptibility was tested blindly and classified based on comparison with 4 strains with known susceptibility/resistance. This yielded a 95% accurateclassification(19/20strains).Onlyonestrain could not be classified due to a contamination, but whenretested,thisstrainwasalsocorrectlyclassified, yielding a 100% accuracy. Currently we are exploring the possibility for performing DST for PZA by transiently exposing microcolonies onacidifiedmediumwithPZA,andmeasuringpostexposure growth rate in standard medium. P144 PNCA GENE MUTATIONS AND PYRAZINAMIDE RESISTANCE IN SWEDISH MULTIDRUGRESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS 2003-2013 Mikael Mansjö, Jim Werngren, Sven Hoffner, Ylva Lidén Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Solna, Sweden Background:Pyrazinamide(PZA)isafirstlinekey drug in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), including multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB susceptible to PZA. Inside the bacteria, the prodrug PZA is activated by the bacterial enzyme pyrazinamidase (PZase) which converts PZA into pyrazinoic acid. PZase is encoded by the pncA gene and the correlation between phenotypic PZA resistance and the presence of mutations in the pncA gene has been well established. Objective: By comparing sequencing of the pncA gene and data from the Bactec MGIT 960, we determined the prevalence of PZA resistance among clinical Swedish MDR-TB strains isolated in Sweden between 2003 and 2013. Method: 119 clinical TB isolates defined as MDR were tested for PZA resistance in the Bactec MGIT 960 system and subsequently screened for mutations within the pncA gene. Results: Preliminary results indicate that 57% of the MDR strains are PZA resistant. In addition, 94% of the PZA resistant strains have a mutation in the pncA gene or its putative promoter. Of the PZA susceptible strains, 77% have a wild type pncA gene. The silent mutation Ser65Ser (C195T; TCC65TCT) was detected in 14% of the susceptible samples. Moreover, the sensitivity andspecificityofpncA sequencing, using the Bactec MGIT 960 system as gold standard, was determined to be 94% and 90%, respectively. 18 out of 37 clinical MDRisolates(49%)wereclassifiedasPZAresistant duringthefirstfiveyear-periodwhereas50outof82 clinical MDR isolates (61%) were classified as PZA resistant during the latter five year-period (including the three isolates from 2013). Conclusion: The results from the last ten year period demonstrate a slight increase of PZA resistance among Swedish MDR cases. Additionally, the detection of pncA gene mutations, or their absence, wasconfirmedasausefulmethodforpredictingPZA resistance. P160 THE INFLUENCE OF GLUTOxIM ON THE RESISTANCE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS (MTB) STRAINS TO ISONIAZID Olga Manicheva1, Natalya Solovyeva1, Viacheslav Zhuravlev1, Victor Antonov2, Dmitriy Aizikov3, 88 Marina Shulgina1 1 Saint-petersburg State Research Institute of phthisiopulmonology, St. petersburg, Russia 2 Military Medical academy, St. petersburg, Russia 3 petrozavodsk State University, petrozavodsk, Russia Background: Isoniazid is the most effective drug used for the treatment of tuberculosis. Resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin (MDR) is prevalent in Russia and a serious threat to the battle against tuberculosis. Therefore, research on drugs which make it possible to reduce the isoniazid minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for drug-resistant mycobacterium strains is of capital importance. Preliminary studies revealed that Glutoxim (a commercial immunostimulator) fully converts isoniazid into its active form (isonicotinic acid) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Glutoxim’s ability to enhance the effect of isoniazid on resistant mutated mycobacterium strains was studied. Methods: Isoniazid-resistant Mtb clinical isolates were studied. Indirect testing for phenotypic drug-resistance was performed using the absolute concentration method on Löwenstein-Jensen media. A TB-Biochip microarray system was used to detect isoniazid resistance mutations. The following procedure was used to determine MICs of various isoniazid/Glutoxim combinations on H37Rv and three isoniazid-resistant (due to mutations of the katG, ahpC and inhA genes) Mtb isolates: a modified checkerboard method on OADC-enriched Middlebrook 7H9 Broth, addition of Thiazolyl Blue and spectrophotometric (at 630 nm) evaluation of growth. Results: Glutoxim alone had no effect on the growth of any of the tested Mtb strains. The initial isoniazid MIC for H37Rv was 0.062 μg ⁄ ml; Glutoxim (503.1μg⁄ml)loweredthisto0.031μg⁄ml.Theinitial isoniazid MIC for the katG-mutated (Ser315 →Thr) strainwas3.5μg⁄ml;Glutoximloweredthisbyafactor of1.6μg⁄ml.Theinitialisoniazid MICforthekatG (Ser315→Thr1,IIe335→Val)+ahpC-T10mutated strain was 20 μg ⁄ ml; Glutoxim lowered this by a factor of two. The inhA-T15 mutant’s initial isoniazid resistance was found to be inferior (0.62 μg ⁄ ml); Glutoximloweredthisevenfurtherto0.31μg⁄ml. Conclusions: Glutoxim lowered the isoniazid MIC by a factor of 1.6-2 in sensitive Mtb H37Rv, and also in clinical isolates with strong/weak drug-resistance caused by various genetic mutations (katG, ahpC, inhA). P173 GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF PYRAZINAMIDE-RESISTANT M. TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx ISOLATES IN AN ITALIAN NORTHEASTERN AREA DURING A FOUR YEAR PERIOD Mario Rassu2, Michela Pascarella2, Riccardo Manganelli1, Giorgio Palù1 1 Department of Molecular Medicine, University of padua, padua, Italy 2 Department of Microbiology, S. Bortolo hospital, vicenza, Italy Pyrazinamide (PZA) is an important first-line antitubercular drug that plays an unique role in achieving shortened chemotherapy in combination with isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol. We examined 52 PZA-resistant clinical strains isolated in the Laboratories of Microbiology and virology of the Hospitals of Padua and vicenza (Jan. 2009 – Dec. 2012). 7 strains were collected during 2009,13 during 2010, 23 during 2011 and 9 during 2012. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of pncA gene mutations as a marker for the detection of PZA resistance in M. tuberculosis (Mtb). PZA susceptibility testing (PZA-ST) was performed usingtheMGIT960system(M960)withanacidified culture medium (pH 5.9). Fully susceptible M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv (ATCC 27294) was included as reference strain. 12 out of 52 PZA-resistant isolates were multidrugresistant TB strains, 4/52 had varied drug susceptibility patterns and 36/52 were susceptible to the others first-linedrugs. Mutations in the pncA gene were detected in 27 out of 52 MGIT960 PZA-resistant isolates. The majority of these (23/27) had different unique point mutations resulting in nucleotide substitutions. As expected, all 15 M. bovis strains had a His57asp mutation. One strain had an 8 bp deletion, between nt 115 and 122: at the best of our knowledge this deletion was not identifiedinItalyyet. Three strains had mutations in the upstream regulatory region: one of them had a nucleotide change located at -11 nt, one at - 12 nt and one strain had a 35 bp deletion between -10 and -44. The last two mutations, also,arenotidentifiedinItalyyet. PZA-susceptibility tests of 25 PZA-resistant isolates that had no mutations in the pncA gene or in their promoter (WT) were repeated using a reduced inoculum (RI) to evaluate major errors recently reported in literature. In the RI assay 10 samples turned out to be susceptible and24wereconfirmedtoberesistantsuggestingthe existence of an alternative mechanism of resistance. It remains to be determined if the strains which did notconfirmtheirresistanceafterRIhavelowlevels of resistance. The analysis of the pncA gene provides rapid and useful information regarding PZA susceptibility in Mtb and may therefore contribute to early optimization of treatment. Furthemore, pncA sequencing may be a useful support for the phenotypic PZA–ST. Marta Peracchi1, Loredana Fallico1, Marta Viero1, 89 P174 P179 INTEGRATING THE xPERT MTB/RIF ASSAY IN A DIAGNOSTIC WORK FLOW FOR RAPID DETECTION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN A LOW PREVALENCE AREA THE EFFICIENCY OF A NEW DECONTAMINATION AND CONCENTRATION KIT WHICH ELIMINATES CENTRIFUGATION, IN ISOLATION OF MYCOBACTERIA FROM SPUTUM SAMPLES Akos Somoskovi1, Claudia Ritter1, Vanessa Deggim1, Antje Voit2, Eric C. Böttger1, Guido V. Bloemberg2 1 Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; nationales zentrum für Mykobakterien, Universität zürich, 8006 zürich, Switzerland 2 Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie Universität zürich, zürich, Switzerland İhsan Hakkı Çiftçi, Engin Karakeçe Sakarya Un. Sch Med. Medical Microbiology, Turkey The Xpert MTB/RIF assay is a rapid and fully automated real-time PCR assay. Its high cost and limited sensitivity in comparison with other PCR MTB test systems preclude the Xpert MTB/RIF assay as a diagnostic procedure for routine direct detection of MTB in low prevalence areas. The aim of this study was to integrate the Xpert MTB/ RIF assay into a diagnostic work flow for urgent clinical specimens and to evaluate the performance of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay as a primary screening test for urgent clinical specimens with the view to replace insensitive and laborious microscopy with low discriminatory power. During a two-year period 79 specimens submitted for emergency testing were analyzed with the Xpert MTB/RIF assay. Our results provide strong evidence that for respiratory samples in a low prevalence setting the Xpert MTB/ RIF assay improves accurate primary screening and is well suited to replace smear microscopy for urgent specimens. The high costs of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay could be compensated by its fast and walkaway methodology compared to the laborious procedure of AFB microscopy which involves tedious reading of slides requiring well experienced personnel for quality results. As described earlier we have identified false RMP resistance by the Xpert MTB/RIF assay in two respiratoryspecimens.Theseresultshaveasignificant impact on accurate screening for RMP resistance in a low tuberculosis and MDR-TB prevalence setting such as Switzerland. More recently, we have also detected false negative RMP resistance results by the Xpert MTB/RIF assay, which were associated with a rpoB Leu533Pro mutation as shown by direct nucleic acid sequencing. As a consequence we strongly recommend that in low prevalence settings RMP resistant results by the Xpert MTB/RIF assay should always be confirmed by an alternative molecular assay until conventional DST is available. 90 Two decontamination and concentration kits, Mycoprosafe and Decomics (Salubris Inc.) were compared for mycobacterial isolation rate, contamination rate and time to mycobacterial detection in rapid culture systems. Mycoprosafe contains all materials needed for application of classical NaOH-NALC decontamination and concentration (Kubica) method. Decomics is a new kit which removes decontamination and neutralization fluids by absorbent beads and thus eliminates the need for centrifugation. A total of 146 sputum samples, were collected from tuberculosis suspected patients. The samples were split into two equal parts and processed by Mycoprosafe and Decomics. Processed samples were examined by AFB staining and were inoculated into TK SLC-L and MGIT culture tubes and incubated in Mycolor TK and BACTEC MGIT 960 instruments, respectively. Any growth was confirmed by AFB staining. Contamination control for MGIT was done by subculturing to sheep blood agar; contamination was followed in Mycolor TK which can predict contamination, as well as growth. Smear positivity for AFB was 11.6% by both methods. From samples processed by Mycoprosafe, mycobacteria were isolated in 35 (24.0%) TK SLC-L, in 34 (23.3%) MGIT tubes and 46 (31.7%) all together in any type of media. From samples processed by Decomics mycobacteria were isolated in 33 (22.6%) TK SLC-L, in 31 (21.2%) MGIT tubes and 39 (26.7%) all together in any type of media. In samples processed with Mycoprosafe, average time to growth detection was 18.3 days in TK SLC-L and 13.0 days in MGIT. In samples processed by Decomics, average time to growth detection was 13.9 days in TK SLC-L and 10.5 days in MGIT. In samples prepared by Mycoprosafe contamination rates were 1.3% in TK SLC-L and 13.7% in MGIT. With Decomics, contamination rates were 6.2% in TK SLC-L and 9.6% in MGIT. In summary, slightly lower isolation rates were obtained in samples processed by Decomics which may be due to higher contamination rates, since mycobacteria were isolated from 6 samples processed by Mycoprosafe which were contaminated by Decomics. Contamination rate in Decomics can be lowered by increasing decontamination time from 10 to 15 minutes as recommended in the application procedure. Decomics speeds up mycobacterial detection time 3 to 5 days depending on the rapid culture method used. Decomics, which lowers sample processing time from 45 to 25 minutes and eliminates the need for centrifugation, may be a good alternative to classical Kubica method in laboratories with elaborate capabilities and may enable to do decontamination and concentration and thus mycobacterial culture, the laboratories where equipment and methods like centrifugation are limited. P180 RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF MULTI- AND ExTENSIVELY DRUG RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS AMONG PATIENTS WITH HIGH RISK OF TB RESISTANCE Valeriu Crudu, Elena Romancenco, Ecaterina Noroc, Nadejda Turcan, Galina Blagoadeteleva Center for Health Policies and Studies; phthisiopneumology Institute, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Background: Rapid diagnosis of multi- and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR&XDR TB) is essential for the prompt initiation of effective second line therapy to improve treatment outcome and limit transmission of TB resistance. The GenoType MTBDRplus 2.0 and GenoType MTBDRsl assay are a commercially available line-probe assay that rapidly detects M.tuberculosis complex, as well as the most common mutations associated with Rifampicin, Isoniazid, Fluoroquinolopne, Aminoglycoside and Ethambutol resistance. Objectives of study were to evaluate the GenoType MTBDRplus 2.0 and MTBDRsl assay for rapid diagnosis of MDR&XDRTB among new and retreatment cases, with high risk of TB resistance. Method: A total of 1405 patients with results of MTBDRplus 2.0 and 194 patients with results of MTBDRsl were analyzed. From these, the fourth part of specimens was performed directly from smearnegative (33,5%) and smear-positive (66,5%) sputum. The strains used for molecular testing were isolated byliquidmedia(MGIT960)andDSTforfirstlinedrugs were performed and compared with LPA results. Results: The RIF resistance was detected in total in 785 (55,9%) cases and INH was resistant in 939 (66,8%). The MDR TB were detected in 646 (46,0%) cases. The most common mutations for RIF resistance was rpoB MuT3 (86,8%) and for INH resistance katG MuT1 (97,7%). All the patients with MDRTB were investigated for second line TB drug resistance. The results of MTBDRsl: 60 (30,9%) of patients were resistance to Fq, resistance to AG were detect in 26 (13,4%) cases and EMB resistance were detected in 44 (22,7%) cases. The most common mutations for Fq were gyrA MuT1 and gyrA MuTC (36.7% and 41,7%), for AG - rrs MuT1 (73,1%) and for EMB - embB MuT1B (75.0%). Conclusion: Effective control of drug resistant tuberculosis requires massive scaling-up of culture and DST capacity, and simultaneous use of rapid molecular assays. The MTBDRplus ver.2 and MTBDRsl assay are sensitive and specific tools for diagnosis of MDR&XDRTB in sputum specimens and culture strains. The short turnaround times and the potential for rapid screening of large numbers of specimens make it suitable as a first-line screening assay for TB drug resistance. With effective planning and logistics, the molecular based methodologies can be successfully introduced into a reference laboratory setting in high burden MDRTB country. High rates of MDR&XDRTBmaketheintroductionofsuchassays particularly useful. P181 EVALUATION OF SECOND-LINE ANTITUBERCULOSIS DRUGS SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING OF MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT (MDR) ISOLATES OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS USING ETEST Hulya Simsek1, Gülnur Tarhan2, Salih Cesur3 1 national public health agency, ankara, Turkey 2 Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir, Turkey 3 Etlik Training and Research hospital, ankara, Turkey Background: Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a major osbstacle for effective treatment of tuberculosis worldwide. Rapid detection of resistance allows appropriate intervention to control the disease. Etest (AB BIODISK, Solna, Sweden) is a simple technique that provides quantitative drug susceptibility results for M. tuberculosis in 5 to 10 days from a culture grown at low cost. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Etest to detect second-line (Kanamycin, Ofloxacin, Ethionamide, Linezolide ) antituberculosis drug susceptibility of multi drug-resistant tuberculosis. Methods: A total of 122 multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis isolates were tested. First line and second line antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by proportion method using LowensteinJensen medium (PMLJ). The antibacterial activities of kanamycin,ofloxacin,ethionamide,linezolideon100 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were determined Etest. Results: Results were obtained in 6 to 10 days by Etest. When 119 of 122 M. tuberculosis isolates were susceptible to four second line drugs, three were resistant to ethionamide and kanamycin. The correlation between E test and standard proportion dilutionmethodwas98%kanamycin,96%ofloxacin, 98% ethionamide, 100% linezolide Conclusion: The Etest method is suitable for testing the agents evaluated against M. tuberculosis. This study supports the utility of Etest for timely detection of drug resistance in M. tuberculosis and for use in tuberculosis control programs. 91 P182 EVALUATION OF THE PRESENCE OF MYCOBACTERIA BELONGING TO THE MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx IN ANIMAL TISSUES BY REAL-TIME PCR Pedro Costa1, Ana Ferreira2, Ana Amaro3, Isabel Couto4, Miguel Viveiros5, João Inácio3 1 Unidade de produção E Saúde animal, Instituto nacional de Investigação agrária E Veterinária, Lisbon, Portugal; Grupo de Micobactérias, Unidade de Ensino e Investigação de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade nova de Lisboa (IHMT/UNL), Lisbon, Portugal; 2 Unidade de produção E Saúde animal, Instituto nacional de Investigação agrária E veterinária, Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de abel Salazar, Universidade do porto, porto, portugal 3 Unidade de produção E Saúde animal, Instituto nacional de Investigação agrária E veterinária, Lisbon, portugal 4 grupo de Micobactérias, Unidade de Ensino e Investigação de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (IHMT/UNL), Lisboa, Portugal; Centro de Recursos Microbiológicos (CREM), Universidade nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, portugal 5 grupo de Micobactérias, Unidade de Ensino e Investigação de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade nova de Lisboa (IhMT/UnL), Lisbon, portugal The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) includes several closely related pathogenic species, which includes M. tuberculosis, the principal agent of human tuberculosis, M. bovis and M. caprae, agents of bovine and caprine tuberculosis, respectively. Bovine tuberculosis is nowadays subjected to costly eradication programs in most European union countries, involving the laboratorial testing of samples from suspected animals for the definitive confirmationofthepresenceofMTC.Thedetection of MTC members in biological samples from livestock and other animals is mainly based in lengthy and cumbersome conventional methods involving histological analysis and culture of the agents. In the present work we have developed a novel and simple IS6110-targeted taqman-based semi-nested realtime PCR assay yielding extremely high sensitivity andspecificityforthedirectdetectionofMTCspecies in animal tissues. Spiked tissue samples and one hundred and eighteen lymph nodes and lung tissue samples from slaughtered animals suspected of having tuberculosis were used for optimization and evaluation of the assay. Tissues were homogenized andDNAextractedbyacommercialkit.Amplification assays enabled the detection of MTC mycobacteria directly in tissue samples with high sensitivity (98%) 92 and specificity (100%), using a combination of histological and bacteriological approaches as goldstandard. Additionally, several tissue samples negative for the isolation of MTC agents, but showing lesions compatible with tuberculosis, were found to yield positiveamplificationresultsforMTCwiththeseminestedreal-timePCRapproach.Theco-amplification of the bovine β-actin gene ruled out the inhibition of the PCR reactions by inhibitory components of tissues or excess of bovine DNA. The IS6110targeted semi-nested real time PCR optimized in this work represents a significant advance for the rapid and accurate detection of MTC members directly in animal tissue samples, capable of being introduced in the routine diagnostics of veterinary laboratories. P193 EVALUATION OF THE xPERT MTB/RIF ASSAY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS Ali Albay, Ozgul Kisa, Mustafa Guney, Gokselin Dogan, Kemal Tekin Department of Medical Microbiology, gulhane Military Medical academy and School of Medicine, ankara, Turkey Objectives: The resurgence of tuberculosis and emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis have stimulated the development of new diagnostic methods. We have conducted a study to evaluate an automated tuberculosis assay (Xpert MTB/RIF) for the presence of M. tuberculosis and resistance to rifampin. Methods: In our study we compared Xpert MTB/RIF assay by the culture methods. The cultures of 389 various routine clinical samples were performed by BACTEC MGIT 960 culture system (BD, uSA) and solid Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture media. And also we tested these clinical samples with Xpert MTB/ RIF system. 171 of our samples were pulmonary specimens and 218 were extrapulmonary samples. Results: We detected 23 samples as positive by Xpert MTB/RIF system and 22 of patient samples were positive by and Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture media. 366 samples were found as negative for M. tuberculosis by Xpert MTB/RIF system and 367 were negative by culture methods. Fourteen of the culture positive samples were smear negative. 13 of these smear negatives were determined as positive for M. tuberculosis by Xpert MTB/RIF system. Two of the M. tuberculosis strains were detected as resistant to rifampin at the beginning by Xpert MTB/RIF system. This was confirmed by BACTEC MGIT 960 culture system later on. There was a discordance between Xpert MTB/RIF system and BACTEC MGIT 960 culture system for one of rifampin resistant strains. It was resistant to rifampin by BACTEC MGIT 960 culture system but sensitive by Xpert MTB/RIF system. According to culture results, the sensitivity of Xpert MTB/RIF system for pulmonary specimens was 100% (16/16) for both smear positive and negative specimens. For extrapulmonary specimens the sensitivity and specificity of the system were 83.3% (5/6) and 99.5% respectively. Conclusion: Rapid laboratory detection and identificationofM. tuberculosis is very important for the treatment of tuberculosis. And also, detection of resistance to rifampin is of particular importance, as it is a marker for multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains. So, Xpert MTB/RIF is a novel automated molecular diagnostic system for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis recently endorsed by the World Health Organization. P199 RAPID DETECTION OF M. TUBERCULOSIS DRUG RESISTANCE TO SECOND LINE ANTIBIOTICS IN SPUTUM SAMPLES BY USING THE MULTI-COMPETITIVE ALLELE-SPECIFIC REAL-TIME PCR Yulia Alyapkina1, Michail Vladimyrsky2, Marina Lapenkova1, Dmitry Varlamov1 1 Jsc “Syntol”, Moscow, Russia 2 Research phthisiopulmonology Institute of Sechenovs Moscow University, Moscow, Russia The rapid spread of Extensive Second Line Drug Resistant (XDR-TB) tuberculosis and wider use of fluoroquinolones and other second line antibiotics requires development and introduction of new rapid methods for detection of resistance to these medications. Recently we designed original multicompetitiveallele-specificreal-timePCRmethodfor detection of main mutations in the rpoB, katG, inhA, embBgenesassociatedwithfirstlineantibioticsdrug resistance. Method is based on using simultaneously a set of 5’-fluorescent allele-specific primers and linear fluorogenic DNA probe detecting MTB. The assay allows detection up to three independent point mutations in one tube. If a sample does not include mutations the standard real-time PCR will take place and only the fluorescence of the fluorogenic DNA probe will increase. If a sample contains mutated DNA then the 5’-fluorophore labeled allele-specific primer will release the quencher to take part in the reactionandthefluorescenceincrementofboththe fluorogenicDNAprobeandtheallele-specificprimer will be registered. The technology was employed for detection of gyrA and rrs genes DNA mutations associatedwithdrugresistancetofluoroquinolones, amykacin and capreomycin. 132 sputum samples from previously treated patients with unknown resistance were studied. To detect the corresponding mutations, quantitative real-time PCR was performed, and the number of MTB cells was determined by analysis IS6110 and regX3 DNA gene copies. If no less than 102 MTB cells were present, mutational analysis with respect to rpoB, katG, inha, gyrA and rrs genes mutations associated with drug resistance was conducted. For this purpose, DNA fragments from the relevant genes were amplified using a preliminary short (20 cycles) round of multiplex PCR. After that, mutations were analyzed by a set of specially constructed fluorescent marked allelespecificprimersasdescribedformerly.For68samples with more than 102 MTB cells mutational analysis was conducted. Results of fist line antibiotics drugresistance analysis: 51 (75%) samples were MDR, 7 (10,3%) – monoINH-resistant, 2 (2,9%) – monoRMPresistant, 8 (11,8%) – susceptible. Results of second line antibiotics drug-resistance analysis (from 51 MDR-samples): 22 (43,1%) were Fq-resistant, 25 (49%) – CAP/AM-resistant, 12 (23,5%) were resistant to all above indicated antibiotics. Therefore 12 patients were determined as patients with XDRTB. Agreement of results between real-time analysis and culture methods was 87% for Fq and CAP/AM antibiotics (for Fq – 84,1%; for CAP/AM – 89,6%). Sensitivity of real-time method as compared with cultural method was 90%, specificity – 98% (FQ – 96%, CAP/AM – 100%). P204 DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS USING GENOTYPE MTBDR ASSAY IN HIVINFECTED PATIENTS, TG.-MURES, ROMANIA Lilla Lőrinczi1, Maria Nemes2, Zaharia Kézdi Erzsébet Iringó3, Mihaela Patraulea4, Székely Edit5, Vas Krisztina Eszter5, Lőrinczi Zoltán6 1 Department of Microbiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Tg.-Mures, Romania; Laboratory Tb University hospital 2 Laboratory Tb University hospital 3 Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Medicine and pharmacy, Tg.-Mures, Romania 4 Tb University hospital, Tg.-Mures, Romania 5 Department of Microbiology, University of Medicine and pharmacy, Tg.-Mures, Romania 6 Department of anatomy, University of Medicine and pharmacy, Tg.-Mures, Romania The incidence of tuberculosis (TB), especially the one caused by multidrug resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains exhibits a continuous increase in the last years, as experienced in cases of HIv-infected patients. In Mures County, Romania theafferentfiguresrisefromanapproximate10%in 2009 to 80% in 2012. Hence, it turned mandatory the earlydiagnosisoftuberculosisandtheidentification of strains causing the infection. The towering problem was addressed using molecular biology facilities. Material and methods: The samples were collected between 2012 October - 2013 March, 28 sputum samples and 10 MTB strains from 38 HIv infected pacients, who were hospitalized at Mures Regional 93 HIv/AIDS Centre. We used GenoType MTBDR Plus (version 2) kits for identifying the presence of MTB DNA and the rpoB, inhA, katG genes (wild type or mutations). Results: 7 out of the 10 MTB strains isolated from HIv-infected persons were MDR. From the 28 samples tested 24 were positive for MTB-DNA and 20 (83.33%) were MDR. Conclusions: Time elapsed to diagnose the TB infectionandidentificationofMDRstrainsusingthe GenoTypeMTBDRpluskitissignificantlyshorterthan using classical methods, cultivation and sensitivity testing on Loewenstein-Jensen medium. The very high and growing incidence on MDR MTB strains among the HIv infected patients in Mures County justifies the use of GenotypeMTBDR kit for investigating the samples originating from these patients, allowing an early diagnosis and individually tailored medication according to the sensitivity of the strain in cause. correction of therapy was performed on the results of MT. Statistical analysis was performed using EpiCalc and chi-square criterion. Results: patients with MDR-TB was identified as evidenced data the MBT was isolated by the way (MT) in 46.5% cases, (MG) method – 67.9 % (χ2 =17.47, p<0,001). 64 (50.4%) MBT cultures had multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) DR to R by the way (MT) was determined in 65 (55.5%) cases, DR to H – 73 (62.4%) cases. DR to H was presented by gene katG mutations in 61 (52.1%) cases, in gene inhA – 17 (14.5%) and in gene ahpC – in 3 (2.6%) cases. DR to R was determined by gene rpo B mutations in 68(58.2%) cases. In the I group was significantly earlier termination of bacteria within 2 months (46,2% (I) vs. 15,7% (II), p<0,01) and closure of lung cavities within 6 months (91,5% (I) vs. 62,8% (II), p<0,01). Conclusion: MG allow in early assign therapy for patients with MDR-TB in 5-7 days, which allows a highefficiencyoftheTB-therapy. P232 P253 THE POSSIBILITY OF EARLY CORRECTION OF CHEMOTHERAPY FOR PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS ON THE BASIS OF MOLECULAR GENETIC METHODS Mariya Pavlova1, Viatcheslav Zhuravlev1, Ludmila Archakova1, Nadezhda Sapozhnikova1, Natalya Solovyeva1, Anna Starshinova1 Research Institute of phthisiopulmonology, St. petersburg, Russian Federation Introduction: in department of phthisiopulmonology in the 2010-2012 examined 187 patients (men-115, women – 72) with newly diagnosed pulmonary TB: infiltrative tuberculosis -74.9% (140); dissemination lunglesiontuberculosis-18.2%(34);fibro-cavernous TB - 6.9% (13). Objectives: ‘determine the effectiveness of therapy in rapiddiagnosticsdrugresistanceinthefirstidentified patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods: sputum from 187 TB patients was simultaneously analyzed using microbiological tests (MT) and molecular-genetic methods (MG). Microbiological tests included culturing on solid medium (Lowenstein-Jensen), liquid medium Middlebrook 7H9 utilizing BACTEC MGIT 960 with determination of drug resistant (DR) of mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) using absolute concentration method. MG was used: real time polymerase chain reaction(RTPCR)–forMTBcomplexidentification in clinical specimens and DNA microarray analysis – TB biochip (TBCh) – for drug resistance (DR) testing directly in the clinical specimens. TBCh identifies mutations in four MBT genes associated with DR to rifampin (R) in gene rpoB and to isoniazid (H) katG, inhA, ahpC genes. The patients divided into two groups: I group (n=117) - correction of therapy was performed on the results of MG; II group (n=70) - 94 THE CORRELATION BETWEEN PHENOTYPIC AND GENETIC RESISTANCE TO ETHAMBUTOL IN PATIENTS FROM MOSCOW REGION Ruslan Ludannyy1, Maria Alvarez Figueroa2, Anastasiya Prokopenko1 1 Federal Budget Institute of Science “Central Research Institute for Epidemiology” of Federal Service on Consumers’ Rights protection and human Well-Being Surveillance, Moscow, Russia 2 Moscow Scientific and Clinical Antituberculosis Centre, Moscow government health Department, Russia Objectives: Ethambutol (E) is one of the first-line drugs and has an impact on cell’s pathway. Basically E inhibits mycobacterial arabinosyl transferases encoded by the embCaB operon which contains three genes (embC, emba and embB). Nowadays SNPs in 306 codon are the most frequently used markers for E resistance detection. Aim: The aim of our investigation is to determine the spectrum of mutations of embB gene which are associated with E resistance and to find correlation between phenotypic and genetic MTC resistance among patients from Moscow region. Methods: A total of 118 clinical MTC isolates were collected in 2008 – 2009 from patients of Clinical TB Hospital #7 (Moscow, Russia). The LöwensteinJensen absolute concentrates culturing method was applied for the detection of phenotypic resistance to E (2 mg/ml). The method of Sanger sequencing was used for the detection of genetic resistance in EmbB gene. Results: Thepolymorphicsiteswereidentifiedin98 isolates (69 sensitive and 29 resistant) in 936 b.p. part of EmbB gene where 97% of previously described mutations were concentrated. Consequently, 51 isolates had only one non-synonymic mutation; 5 isolates had more than one change and 3 isolates revealed combination of mutant and wild types. 39 isolates had no alterations; however, two of them had phenotypical resistance. Overall, 19 types of mutations were observed during research. Three of nineteen mutations were synonymic and have not been described previously: p. Ser261Ser, p. Gly294Gly and p. Ala453Ala. The most widely represented SNPs were: p. Met306val – 31.6%, p. Met306Ile – 24.5%, p. Gly406Ser – 8.2% and p. Asp354Ala – 7.1%. The correlation between phenotypic and genetic sensitivity was 43% for phenotypic resistant isolates and 53% for sensitive one’s. Two phenotypical resistance isolates were studied more thoroughly because genetic mutations had not been observed. For these samples we had analyzed the total EmbB gene sequence, however, no mutations were found. Conclusion: In our opinion the role of emb306 SNP in clinical diagnostics of resistance detection is overestimated because we have found it only in 53.1% of all cases. The discordant results that have been obtained in the course of our study demonstrate that E resistance of M. tuberculosis complex is related to mutations located outside of EmbB gene and that novel mutations contributing to E resistance are likely to be discovered. P256 MDR TB WITH MIxED STRAINS: A CHALLENGE IN DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT OF PATIENTS Valeriu Crudu1, Elena Romancenco2, Ecaterina Noroc3, Nadejda Turcan3, Liliana Domente3, Sofia Alexandru3, Dumitru Chesov3, Stefan Niemann4, Matthias Merker4, Sabine Rüsch-Gerdes4, Antonino Catanzaro5 1 Center for health policies and Studies, Chisinau, Moldova 2 State Medical and pharmaceutical University, Chisinau, Moldova 3 phthisiopneumology Institute, Chisinau, Moldova 4 national Reference Center for Mycobacteria, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Borstel, germany 5 Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USa Rationale: Although progress has been made to reduce global incidence of tuberculosis, the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis during the past decade threatens to undermine these advances. The occurrence of mixed infections of M. tuberculosis is no longer disputed. However, their frequency, and the impact they may have on our understanding of TB pathogenesis and epidemiology, remains undetermined. Re- infections with MDRTB strains may occur in settings where the infection pressure is high, long period of treatment and low infection control in hospital. The magnitude and reasons of TB nosocomial transmission are only insufficiently investigated, especially in developing countries with high rates of MDRTB. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the level of mixed infection among MDRTB patients and the possibilities of MTBDRPlus test to evaluate the reinfection and mixed strains. Methods: The MTBDR Plus test results from TB patients examined before and during follow-up of treatment were evaluated. In total 271 results from 193 New TB cases and 78 patients with re-treatment cases were assess. The RIF Sensitive results was determine in 38.7%, the RIF resistance – in 38.0%, in 14.0% of cases the results was indeterminate and 9.2% negative results. The INH Sensitive results was determined in 33.6%, the INH resistance – in 39.1%, in 17.3% of cases the results was indeterminate and 10.0% negative results. The results of selected 64 patients, who were before treatment sensitive and became MDRTB during follow-up treatment, were compared. Among patients with follow-up treatment the level of indeterminate results of MTBDRPLus was very high – 48.4% for RIF and 57.8% for INH. The indeterminate results can be caused by mixed infection, occurred during in-patient treatment. The high level of nosocomial re-infection in these setting was proven in studies performing before (v. Crudu, 2011). Genotypic analysis was done (IS6110 DNA fingerprinting,MIRU)forconfirmedthemixedinfection from patients with indeterminate results of LPA. The mixed infection was proven in 67.0% for RIF and 69.0% for INH. Conclusions: We have shown that, among patients with MDR TB, mixed infection may be caused by re-transmission between patients during in-patients treatment. The “indeterminate results” from MDRTB patients, obtained by MTBDRPlus test, can indicate the possible re-infection and mixed strains. Acknowledgement: This study was funded by NIAID (u01AI082229, PI: A.Catanzaro) through the Global Consortium for Drug-resistant TB Diagnostics. P259 ExTERNAL qUALITY CONTROL FOR DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING IN ROMANIAN TUBERCULOSIS LABORATORY NETWORK Daniela Homorodean, Andreea Melinda Jodal Clinical hospital of pneumology Leon Daniello, national Reference Laboratory, Cluj napoca, Romania The quality of drug susceptibility tests (DST) results are crucial for the programmatic management of drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) cases. In Romania there are 40 county laboratories (labs) and two National 95 Reference Laboratories (NRL) performing annually about12,500DSTforfirstlinedrugsIsoniazid(INH) and Rifampicin (RMP). Aim: Assessment of the DST external quality control (EqC) results for INH and RMP in the 42 laboratories of the network performing this test in two successive rounds. Material and methods: For 2009 and 2012 EqC rounds we used the international M. tuberculosis panel of 20 strains received from the Supranational Reference Laboratory Stockholm. Strains were sub-cultured, renumbered and coded and were transported to the labs by an authorized company. Participants were informed about risk infection and the necessity to handle specimens in bio-safety conditions. Absolute concentration method was used for DST. Results were reported in forms which were sentwiththestrains.Sensibility,specificity,accuracy (concordant results) and predictive values of the results were calculated. Results: In 2009 round all labs obtained 100% concordant results for RMP and 95.2% (40/42) for INH. One false susceptible (FS) INH result was reported in one lab, and another lab reported one FS INH and one false resistant (FR) INH result. In 2012 round, for RMP, 100% concordant results were obtained in 47.6% (20/42) of labs, 95% concordant results in 45.2% (19/42) of labs, 90% concordant results in one lab and 85% concordant results in 2 labs. Errors consisted in FR RMP results. The errors were not repeated in the same labs in the two rounds. For the labs which obtained unsatisfactory results we recommended the training of the staff in one NRL. Conclusions: The results obtained in the two EqC rounds are good and reliable. In order to maintain and document the high quality of DST results it is necessary to yearly repeat DST EqC. P262 LATE-PCR DETECTION OF M(x)DR-TB USING FLUORESCENT SIGNATURES L. Rice,1 J.Rice1, L. Wangh1; N. Kurpina2, B. Kreiswirth2, N. Casali3, F. Drobniewski3; M. De Vos4, R. Warren4 1 Dept. of Biology Brandeis Univ., Waltham, Ma, USa 2 phRI, newark, new Jersey, USa 3 Blizard Institute, Queen Mary College, University of London, London, UK 4 DST/nRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Stellenbosch Univ. Tygerberg, South africa Background: We have constructed and are evaluating a highly informative, rapid, single-tube assay for M(X)DR tuberculosis using technologies invented at Brandeis university. Methods: AmplificationoccursbyLATE-PCR,which 96 generates single-stranded amplicons. Detection occurs by Lights-On/Lights-Off probes, which makes it possible to scan long DNA targets for mutations. All amplicons are analyzed simultaneously at end-point at temperatures below the annealing temperature. quasar: Rifampin resistance (rpoB gene); Cal Red: Isoniazid, Ethambutol, Fluoroquinolone resistance (inhA promotor, embB gene, gyrB gene); Cal Orange: Isoniazid and Fluoroquinolone resistance (katG gene, gyrA gene); Fam: Aminoglycoside and Streptomycin resistance (rrs1401, rrs904-908, rrs504-516). If a 5th color channel is available it can be used to detect additional targets of interest. An internal control for quantitative analysis, temperature mark, and primer specificityisalsopresent,labeledinCalOrange Current Results: Unique “fluorescent signatures” were obtained for all different rifampicin-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis tested, plus several drugsensitive strains containing different neutral of mutations. Each of the predominant mutations for the other drug resistant targets has its own fluorescent signature, color and temperature space. This assay is also specific for MTBCs and does not give false positives with any NTMs. This assay is robust and detects as little as a single bacterial genome in a background of 10,000 human genomes. No false positives or negatives have been observed thus far. Conclusions: This single-tube M(X)DR-TB assay is just one of many possible assay designs that can be constructed using the suite of Brandeis university technologies. Supported by the TSB (uK), Smiths Detection Diagnostics, Inc., Brandeis university, and NIH. This and several related assays are now under development for Hain Lifescience. NEW THERAPEUTIC REGIMENS FOR TB AND MDR-TB P161 EFFICIENCY OF CHEMOTHERAPY OF xDR TB PATIENTS WITH LINEZOLIDE Anastasia Samoilova, Irina Vasilyeva, Tatev Bagdasarian, Marina Burakova, Svetlana Moiseyeva Central TB Research Institute, Russian academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia Objective: ToassessefficiencyoftreatmentofXDR TB patients with linezolide. Methods: Treatment of 112 XDR TB patients, enrolled in this study, consisted besides chemotherapy of collapse therapy (artificial pneumotorax and/ or pneumoperitonium), immunotherapy, additional albuminous nutrition if necessary, supporting therapy aimed at prevention of possible side effects. All XDRTBpatientsweretreatedbycapreomycin,moxifloxacin, pyrazinamide, cycloserine, PAS, protionamide and/ or ethambutol and amoxicillin+clavulanic acid or clarithromycin. Patients were divided into three groups: the 1st group included 44 patients who received complex treatment and linezolide in the dose of 600 mg per day during 4 months and the 2nd group - 34 patients who received complex treatment and linezolide in the dose of 600 mg per day during 12 months and the 3rd group consisted of 34 patients receiving the same complex treatment without linezolide. XDR of M. tuberculosis was diagnosed by culture method on liquid media with BACTEC MGIT 960. Therapy results were assessed in 12 months by frequency of negativation of M. tuberculosis with a culture method and by clinical and X-ray dynamics of a treatment process. Results: Culturemethodconfirmedthat34(77,3%) patients became cultures negative in 12 months in the 1st group, 33 (97,1 %) - in the 2nd group and only 12 (35,3%) patients in the 3rdgroup(р<0,05).In1st group in 12 months 18 (40,9%) patients showed healing of cavities, in the 2nd group – 19 (55,9%) and in the 3rd group - 8 (23,5%) patients, p1,3<0,05, p2,3<0,05. Conclusion: Long-term administration of linezolide in the regimen of chemotherapy for XDR TB patients significantlyincreasesefficiencyoftheirtreatment. 97 TB BIOMARKERS AND NOVEL VACCINE STRATEGIES P21 DRUG TOLERANCE TO ETHAMBUTOL OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS CELL WALL DEFICIENT L-FORMS Georgi Slavchev, Nadya Markova Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria The loss of cell wall in mycobacteria results in appearance of highly pleomorphic forms with new biologic characteristics, known as L-forms. It is known that L-forms occur along with resistance to factors that trigger their appearance and survive unfavorable conditions much longer than the classic bacteria. In this respect, it was of interest to study the relationship between L-form formation in M. tuberculosis and exhibition of drug tolerance to Ehambutol (EMB) which acts through the inhibition of cell wall synthesis. Model using in vitro cryogenic stress treatment and subsequent cultivation in two variants of Middlebrook 7H9 semisolid medium (EMB containing medium in concentration of 2mg/l and control medium) was used for induction and selective isolation of L-forms both from EMB sensitive (No18 ) and resistant (No 43) strains of M. tuberculosis. The obtained L-form variants of tested strains gave rise to colonies with typical “fried eggs” shape. Electron microscopy showedspecificmorphologyandultrastructureofcell wall deficient bacterial population. EMB resistance/ susceptibility was evaluated phenotypically and by PCR assay targeting embB 306 mutations. It was found that L-forms originating from a sensitive No18 strain and obtained after cultivation in both variants of semisolid medium (with and without EMB) showed phenotypically tolerance to high concentration of EMB (16mg/l). It is interesting to note that amplification of embB 306 failed in all L-form variants of both M. tuberculosis strains, although all L-forms were confirmedbyIS6110RT-PCR. We suggest that loss of specific targets for EMB in L-forms of M. tuberculosis may underlie the phenotypic drug tolerance to this drug. Acknowledgements This work was supported by grantIDNo.02/27oftheNationalScientificFundin Bulgaria P86 MALARIA, TUBERCULOSIS, HIV and HBV COINFECTIONS IN A RURAL POPULATION IN THE SOUTH OF GHANA 98 Natalia Julca1, Alejandra Martinez-Serna2, Maria Carmen Menendez1, Carolina Garrido4, Patricia Marin-Garcia3, Antonio Puyet2, Jose Manuel Bautista2, Carmen De Mendoza3, Maria Jesus Garcia5, Amalia Diez2 1 Universidad autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 2 Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 3 Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain 4 hospital Carlos III, Madrid, Spain 5 Facultad de Medicina, Universidad autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Introduction: The clinical course of patients infected by Plasmodium falciparum in a region highly endemic for malaria could be influenced by the co-infection with other main pathogens, such as M. tuberculosis, HIv and HBv. In this scenario, the internal competition among pathogens not only to each other but also with the immune system could determine the prognosis and outcome of the diseases. Objective: To study the detection of single and multiple infections in a high prevalent region of the four main pathogens: Plasmodium falciparum, HumanImmunodeficiencyVirusandM. tuberculosis and Hepatitis B, aiming to determine the level of coinfection in a rural population in the South of Ghana. Methods: Dried Blood Spots, as well as sera were collected from patients attending a Hospital of Asikuma (Ghana). Detection of Plasmodium was performed by PCR-quantificationofparasiteDNAfromthespots. Total nucleic acids of mycobacteria were isolated from the spots. Mycobacterial DNA and cDNA were detected following published procedure (Cubero et al, 2012). HIv and HBv chronic infections were analysed by thedetectionofspecificantibodiesusinganELISA. In order to determine HBv chronic infection the presence of positive HbsAg was required. Results: A total of 58 patients were analysed (15 male and 43 female, 22 known to be pregnant). The mean age was 23 y.o., only three patients were over 37 y.o. Overall, at least one of the pathogens was detected in 79.3% of patients. DNA from P. falciparum was the commonest detected as single pathogen (22%) followed by detection of mycobacterial RNA (19%) corresponding to M. tuberculosis in 2/3 of the cases. Co-infection of HBv or P. falciparum with mycobacteria was also frequent (8.5% and 17% respectively). Non tuberculous mycobacteria were more frequently detected than M. tuberculosis in those co-infected samples. up to three different pathogens were detected in four patients. Remarkably, the two cases with positive detection of HIv belong to this group. Conclusions: Multiple infections was seen, being co-infection of P. falciparum and M. tuberculosis the most common. The knowledge of the presence of multiple infections could be important to determine actions to be made for the management of patients with Malaria. Funding resources /Acknowledgements Supported by Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science (BIO 2010-17039) P205 CIRCULATING MIRNA SIGNATURES IN TUBERCULOSIS Paolo Miotto1, Grace Mwangoka2, Ilaria C. Valente1, Luca Norbis1, Giovanni Sotgiu3, Alessandro Ambrosi4, Luigi Codecasa5, Delia Goletti6, Alberto Matteelli7, Klaus Reither8, Daniela M. Cirillo1 1 Emerging Bacterial pathogens Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy 2 Bagamoyo Research and Training Centre / Ifakara health Institute, Bagamoyo, United Republic of Tanzania 3 Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy 4 San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy 5 Regional Reference Center for Tb “villa Marelli”, niguarda Ca’ granda hospital, Milan, Italy 6 National Institute of Infectious Diseases; Department of Epidemiology and preclinical Research; National institute for Infectious Diseases “L. Spallanzani”, Rome, Italy 7 Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy 8 Swiss Tropical and public health Institute (Swiss Tph), Basel, Switzerland Early diagnosis and treatment are key elements to achieve tuberculosis (TB) control. However, current diagnostic tools suffer of several limitations, especially for those at higher risk of TB disease and death, such aschildrenandimmunodeficientindividuals.Recent studies showed that circulating microRNA (miRNA) can be successfully used as biomarkers for several physiological and pathological statuses, including TB. This study aims to identify the different serum miRNA profilesassociatedwithM.tuberculosisinfectionand disease. For the study we enrolled healthy controls (H), subjects with active pulmonary TB (PTB), latent TB (LTBI), extra-pulmonary active TB (EPTB), patient with pulmonary infections other than TB (OPI). The subjects included in the study were enrolled in 2 sites in Italy and 2 sites in Africa (uganda and Tanzania). To minimize individual variation, sera from 10 subjects within the same category were pooled. The miRNA profile in total RNA was analyzed by TaqMan LowDensity Array (TLDA) (Applied Biosysistem). We also evaluated single-subject miRNA profiles in 18 PTB and 18 H sera from the European Region and 10 PTB and 10 H sera from the African population by TLDA. quantile normalization was performed for each dataset (pools/individuals), and Student’s t-test was used to compare the levels of circulating miRNAs between categories. Out of the 672 miRNAs analysed, 114 showed to be differentially up- or down-regulated within the categories analyzed (P<0.05). In particular, 38 miRNAs were differentially expressed between PTB and H; additional 27 miRNAs were discriminatory between PTB and OPI categories. Analysis performed on single patients confirmed 3 miRNAs for both the European and the African cohorts. Additionally, 4 miRNAspreviouslyunidentifiedbythepoolsanalysis werefoundtobesignificantlydiscriminatorybetween PTB and H subjects in both the European and African individuals. Concluding, a signature of 7 miRNAs (3 European-specific,3African-specificand4common) wasidentifiedasdiscriminatory. Our study suggests that altered levels of serum miRNAs have great potential to serve as noninvasive biomarkers for early detection of pulmonary TB disease. P207 IDENTIFICATION OF ROUTINE CLINICAL MYCOBACTERIA ISOLATES WITH MALDI-TOF MS USING THE NEW BRUKER MYCOBACTERIA LIBRARY Gorkem Yaman, Cigdem Celikkan, Derya Turk Duzen Laboratories group, Istanbul, Turkey Objective: Mycobacteria identification of routine clinical isolates is mainly based on molecular methods which are highly technical, time consuming and expensive. The use of MALDI-TOF MS for mycobacteria identification is promising; however, despite there are mycobacterial spectra present in the IvD databases, the results obtained with standard preparation techniques and routine database were not satisfactory.In this study the performance of MALDITOF MS for identification of clinical mycobacteria strains with the new proein extraction method and the Bruker mycobacteria library was evaluated. Methods: A total of 145 mycobacteria isolates from various clinical materials requested for TB culture were included in the study. The specimens were cultured in both BD MGIT bottles and LJ medium. Growths on eithermediumwereEZNstainedandidentifiedifacid fast bacilli are present. All of the isolates were initially 99 identified with PCR-RFLP analysis (PRA) using hsp65 TB11 and TB12 primers. For MALDI-TOF MS analysis, the mycobacterial colonies were inactivated with ethanol, heated up to 100oC and zirconia/silica beads were used for mechanical disruption and finallyproteinextractionwaselicitedwithacetonitrile and formic acid. The samples were pipetted onto steeltargetplateandidentifiedwithBrukerMicroflex LT system using the new Bruker mycobacteria library. Results: The mycobacterial isolates were distributed as 75 M. tuberculosis complex and 70 non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) of which 11 M.abcessus, 8 M.fortuitum, 8 M.avium, 6 M.simiae, 5 M.intracellulare, 6 M.gordonae, 2 M.avium complex, 1 M.kansasii, 1 M.peregrinum, 1 M.porcinum/M. septicum, 1 M.smegmatis with PRA. The remaining 20 isolates were not accurately identified and accepted as unidentified NTM species. From the 125 accurately identified isolates, the mycobacteria library correctly identified 107 (85,6%) to species level. Since the mycobacteria library contains only mycobacterial strains, the remaining 18 results were considered as discrepant which will be subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. The Bruker mycobacteria library gave a spectral score higher than 1.7 for 84 (67,2%) isolates and 81 (96,4%) of these isolates werecorrectlyidentifiedtothespecieslevel. Conclusion: The new preparation method and the mycobacteria library significantly increased the number of correctly identified clinical mycobacteria isolates compared to the IvD database. MALDI TOFMS provides fast and accurate results especially with spectral scores higher than 1.7 using the new mycobacteria library and it could be implemented for routineidentificationofmycobacteriaintotheworkflow of clinical microbiology laboratories. P222 EVALUATION OF FLUOROTYPE MTB FOR DIRECT DETECTION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEx AND GENOTYPE MTBDRPLUS FOR DETERMINING OF RIFAMPICIN AND ISONIAZID RESISTANCE Gonca Erkose Genc, Dilek Satana, Esra Yildrim, Zayre Erturan, Yildiz Yegenoglu, Meltem Uzun Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Istanbul, Turkey Background: The commercially available assay FluoroType MTB (Hain Lifescience, Nehren, Germany) is a PCR based assay for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) DNA. The assay principally based on targeting the IS6110 element. Amplification and detection takes place in a FluoroCycler (Hain Lifescience) using melting curve fluorescence Hybeacon-probe technology in about three hours. GenoType MTBDRplus (Hain 100 Lifescience) test is based on DNA strip technology for the identification of MTBC and its resistance to rifampicin (RMP) and isoniazid (INH). The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of FluoroType MTB for rapid determination of MTBC and the performance of GenoType MTBDRplus for detection of RMP and INH resistance in clinical samples. Methods: Totally 247 (124 respiratory, 123 nonrespiratory) samples were decontaminated, neutralized and concentrated with conventional methods. Processed samples were separated into twovolumes.Thefirstvolumewasusedforacid-fast bacillus (AFB) microscopy, culture in Bactec MGIT 960 liquid medium and Löwenstein-Jensen solid medium. Second volume was used for analysis by FluoroType MTB. GenoType MTBDRplus was performed for the samples which were found to be positive for MTBC detection. Results: Twenty three of 247 samples (9.3%) were positive both by culture and FluoroType MTB, while 12 (4.8%) of these samples were AFB negative. FluoroType MTB failed to detect MTBC in a gastric lavage which were culture positive. For this assay overall sensitivity, specifity, positive and negative predictive value were determined as 95.8%, 100%, 100% and 99.5% respectively. GenoType MTBDRplus was performed on 23 clinical specimens which were positive by FluoroType MTB. A valid result could not have obtained for three specimens (a biopsy, a urine and a gastric lavage), while 20 of them were found susceptible to RMP and INH. For three specimens, result was only available when the test was performed with cultivated samples. It could may be due to the clinical specimens which contained number of mycobacteria under the detection limit of the test. Antituberculous drug susceptibility test was performed for 23 strains by Bactec MGIT 960 method and all strains were found susceptible to RMP and INH. Conclusion: FluoroType MTB assay provided quick and reliable direct detection of MTBC from clinical specimenswithhighsensitivity(95.8%)andspecifity (98.7%). The performance of GenoType MTBDRplus was determined to be problematic in some occasions regarding to the count of mycobacteria in clinical samples, but it is found to be a reliable test for cultivated samples. NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIAS P18 IN MExICAN MESTIZOS THE HLA-DRB1*01 ALLELE CONFERS GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TO LEPROMATOUS LEPROSY (LL) Monica Escamilla-Tilch2, Iris Estrada-García1, Nora M Torres-Carrillo3, Rosalío Ramos-Payán4, M. Isabel Salazar1, Mary Fafutis5, Roberto Arenas-Guzmán6, Sergio Estrada Parra6, Julio Granados7 1 Dept. de Inmunol., Esc. nal. de Ciencias Biológicas, Ipn., México City, México 2 Dept. de Inmunol., Esc. nal. de Ciencias Biológicas, IPN, México City, México; Dept. de Transplantes, Inst. nal. de Ciencias Médicas y nutrición Salvador zubirán, México City, México 3 Departamento de Investigación Básica, Instituto nacional de geriatría, Secretaría de Salud, México City, México 4 Facultad de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, UaS, Culiacán, Sinaloa, México, 5 Lab. de Inmunol., Inst. Dermatol. de Jalisco José Barba Rubio, guadalajara, Jalisco, México, 6 Sec. de Micol., hosp. gral. Dr. M. gea gonzález, México, D.F. 7 Dept. de Transplantes, Inst. nal. de Ciencias Médicas y nutrición Salvador zubirán, México City, México Despite great efforts from the National Leprosy Control Programme, leprosy remains endemic in some regions of México. There is a great heterogeneity both in geographical distribution of cases, and in Mycobacterium leprae genotypes. Reasons for these differences are unclear, but may reflect the genetic heterogeneity of the Mexican Mestizo population and the introduction of the infectious agent several times from different geographical areas of the world. Recent studies indicate that pathogenesis may be a two-step process in which a group of genes controls susceptibility to leprosy per se, while a different set of genes controls the clinical manifestations of the disease. Regarding genes in chromosome region 6p21, studies have shown association between leprosy susceptibility and both Major Histocompatibility Complexes (MHC), class I and class II; in particular for locus DRB1 of the MHC class II that participates on antigen processing and presentation to T lymphocytes, being crucial for T cell-mediated immunity. Considering HLA genes influencesusceptibilitytowardsleprosy,aswellasthe clinical form LL or tuberculoid (TT), we investigated the association of HLA-DRB1 alleles in 52 Mexican patients (39% female and 61% male, mean age 65±14 years, range 18-86 years) from eight states, 41 with LL. 99 healthy individuals (50% female and 50% male, mean age 40±10 years, range 28-52 years) were included as controls. We found that HLA-DRB1*01 allele in a Mexican mestizo population with leprosy (n=52)issignificantlymorefrequent(23.00%,pc< 0.001, OR = 5.60) than in healthy individuals (n = 99, 5.00%).ThisisthefirsttimetheassociationofHLADRB1*01 with immune susceptibly to lepromatous leprosy is described in this population. P41 MYCOBACTERIA IDENTIFICATION FROM PATIENTS WITH RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS ADMITTED IN PEDRO KOURÍ INSTITUTE, HAVANA, CUBA María Rosarys Martínez Romero1, Misleidis Sardiña2, Grechen García2, Lilian María Mederos2, Yoandra Abad3 1 pedro Kourí Institute, havana, Cuba 2 national Reference Laboratory in Tuberculosis and Mycobacteria, pedro Kourí Institute, havana, Cuba 3 Mathematical Modeling. Epidemiology Departmen. pedro Kourí Institute, havana, Cuba Background: Mycobacteria are responsible for high morbidity and the rapid diagnosis is essential to implement an effective control. Aim: To perform the isolation and identification of mycobacteria in patients with respiratory symptoms. Methods: We studied 942 patients with respiratory symptoms. Samples were processed at the National Reference Laboratory of tuberculosis (IPK), from January to December 2012. The samples processing and culture, was done by manual laboratory procedures. The positive culture for acid-fast bacilli, were performed a conventional biochemical identificationtestsandrapidtest(SDtestBIOLINE) to differentiate the complex M. tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), simultaneously. TheclassificationofNTMwasdoneaccordingtothe established procedures. Results: The rapid test to differentiate M. tuberculosis andNTM,showed100%ofsensitivityandspecificity.A 55.7% of the isolates corresponded to M. tuberculosis and 44.3% were NTM; within them M. aviumintracellulare (MaI) and M. malmoense were the most frequent (21.4% and 11.4%, respectively). Analysis by type of sample (pulmonary and extrapulmonary) and isolated species showed to MaI and M. malmoense an OR of 8.19 and 5.22 and p values 0.05. When analyzing the results by type of mycobacteria isolated 101 and suffer or not HIv, we obtained an OR of 7.61 (p = 0.0002). Conclusions: SD Bioline test was adequate method to differentiate M. tuberculosis and NTM. TheMNTareresponsibleforasignificantnumberof infections by mycobacteria and MaI being the most common isolation. MaI and M. malmoense isolates were found more frequently in extrapulmonary samples. Patients with HIv were risk 7 times greater than non-HIv to suffering tuberculosis. P51 A CASE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TERRaE INFECTION IN CATTLE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Hajrudin Besirovic1, Amer Alic1, Silvio Spicic2, Zeljko Cvetnic2, Senad Prasovic1 1 University of Sarajevo, veterinary Faculty, Department of pathology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and herzegovina 2 Croatian veterinary Institute, zagreb, Department of Bacteriology and parasitology,Laboratory for Bacterial zoonosis and Molecular Diagnosis of Bacterial Diseases, zagreb, Republic of Croatia Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) are worldwide opportunist pathogens which can infect both humans and animals. Infections with these mycobacteria can have various clinical manifestations and may cause allergic sensitisation of the infected animals. Besides the potential zoonotic risk these infections in cattle can interfere with intradermal tuberculin test and hamper the in vivo diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis resulting in significant economic losses due to unnecessary restrictions and culling of reactor animals. Here we describe a case of Mycobacterium terrae infection in a cow on a small dairy household in Central Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the identification of the disease and causative agent comparative tuberculin skin test (TST), pathomorphology, microbiology and molecular methods were applied. At necropsy of a cow that was positive on annual routine tuberculin skin testing, severe multifocal granulomatous dermatitis and paniculitis were observed. Furthermore, moderate granulomatous (parasitic) colitis was also noted. Histopathology revealed granulomatous dermatitis. Ziehl-Neelsen staining was negative for acid fast bacteria. Regional and thoracic lymph nodes, and skin lesions were submitted for microbiology examinations. Isolated bacteria were identified by molecular methods as Mycobacterium terrae. Our findings confirms the difficulties that nontuberculous mycobacteria can cause in the in vivo diagnosis of mycobacterial infections, especially in conjunction with parasitic infestations. 102 Keywords: Cattle, Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria, Mycobacterium terrae, Bosnia and Herzegovina P58 COMPARATIVE In vITRO ACTIVITIES OF RIFAMPIN, RIFAPENTINE AND RIFABUTIN AGAINST MyCOBaCTERIUM KanSaSII. Michael Cynamon, Mary Sklaney vamc, SUny Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, new york, United States The currently recommended regimen for M. kansasii infection is isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF), and ethambutol (EMB) for 12 – 18 months. RIF is the key agent in this regimen. EMB likely decreases the development of resistance to RIF. It is unclear if INH plays a significant role since its in vitro activity against M. kansasii is quite poor. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the comparative in vitro activities of RIF, rifapentine (RPT), and rifabutin (RBT) against clinical isolates of M. kansasii. RIF, RPT, and RBT were obtained from Sigma Aldrich Chemicals (St. Louis, MO), Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (Cincinnati, OH), and Adria Laboratories (Dublin, OH) respectively. These compounds were dissolved in DMSO to 1mg/ml prior to freezing at -200C. They were tested in Middlebrook 7H10 broth, pH6.6 (7H10 agar formulation with agar and malachite green omitted) supplemented with 10% Middlebrook oleic acid-albumin-dextrosecatalase enrichment and 0.05% Tween 80 at 1µg/ ml – 0.001µg/ml in polystyrene 96-well round-bottom microtiter plates. To each well, 50µl of the appropriate mycobacterial cell suspension was added to yield a finalconcentrationofabout1x105CFu/ml (range for various isolates tested was 1.6 x 104 – 3.0 x 106 CFu/ ml). Plates were incubated at 370C in ambient air for 7 - 10 days prior to reading. The MIC50/MIC90 (µg/ml) of RIF, RPT, and RBT were 0.06/0.125, 0.015/0.125, and 0.004/0.015 respectively. RBTwassignificantlymoreactivein vitro than either RIF or RPT. It would be interesting to evaluate the comparative activities of these compounds in a murine model of M. kansasii infection to determine whether a rifamycin otherthanRIFwouldbepotentiallymoreefficacious for treatment of M. kansasii infections in humans. P82 MyCOBaCTERIUM BRUMaE TRIGGERS CELLCYCLE ARREST IN BLADDER CANCER CELLS Silvia Secanella-Fandos1, Gemma OrpellaAceret1, Eduard Torrents2, Alejandro SánchezChardi3, Julia Lorenzo4, Manuela Costa5, Marina Luquin1, Esther Julián1 Dept. genètica I Microbiologia. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 2 Dept. Cellular Biotechnology. Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia – Ibec, Barcelona, Spain 3 Servei de Microscopia. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 4 Institut de Biotecnologia I Biomedicina. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 5 Unitat de Citometria. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 1 Mycobacterium bovisBCGisthefirstoptiontreatment for high-risk non-invasive bladder cancer patients. Although the exact mechanism by which BCG acts is not completely known, it has been demonstrated that BCG exerts both a direct antitumor effect by inhibiting tumor proliferation, and an indirect antitumor effect by stimulating patient immune cells, which in turns kill tumor cells. Previous studies have shown that BCG inhibits tumor cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. We have demonstrated that the non pathogenic Mycobacterium brumae also inhibits tumor bladder cell proliferation. In the present work we aimed to elucidate how M. brumae is able to inhibit tumor growth. Bladder cancer cells (T24 cells) were infected with BCG or M. brumae (MOI 10:1). Forty-eight hours after infection, apoptosis was measured in cell cultures by usingdifferenttechniques:1)flowcytometrytoquantify early apoptosis after labeling the cells with annexin v/ propidium iodide; 2) agarose gel electrophoresis to analyse apoptotic DNA fragmentation from infected cells: 3) ELISA to detect activation of caspase 3; andfinally,4)bothtransmission(TEM)andscanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe ultrastructural changes in morphology (membrane blebbing, fragmentation or picnotic nuclei) related to induced cell death/apoptosis. In parallel, DNA from T24 cells was stained with propidium iodide at different time points after infection to analyze cell cycle by using flowcytometry.Inallexperiments,untreatedT24cells and cells treated with staurosporine and camptothecin (apoptosis inducers) were included as negative and positive controls, respectively. Our results showed that neither BCG nor M. brumae induce apoptosis to T24 bladder cells. There were a similar percentage of early apoptotic cells between BCG, M. brumae and non-infected cells detected by flow cytometry. DNA fragmentation and presence of caspase 3 in the cytoplasm were not detected in infected cells. SEM and TEM experiments also showed a similar percentage of apoptosis between mycobacteria-infected and non infected T24 cells. In all the experiments, T24 cells treated with both apoptotic inducers were positive. When cell cycle was analyzed, the results showed that M. brumae arrests the cells at G0/G1 phase, whereas BCG arrests the cells at G0/G1 and S phase. In conclusion, M. brumae inhibits tumor growth by leading the cells into cell cycle arrest, and does not induce apoptosis. P83 IN-DEPTH SURVEY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSP. paRaTUBERCULOSIS (MAP) GENOTYPES IN GERMANY Petra Möbius, Isabel Fritsch, Heike Köhler Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Molecular pathogenesis, nRL for paratuberculosis, Jena, germany MAP is the causative agent of paratuberculosis. This chronic enteritis affects primarily domestic and wild ruminants. The agent is wide-spread in cattle herds in Europe. The current study aimed at understanding the diversity of MAP strains in Germany and to unveil co-infections and transmission routes. Strains typed originated from different regions, hosts, herds, animals, and tissues. A total of 330 MAP isolates were sourced from 300 cattle in 128 herds. Additional isolates were from 8 further species (sheep, goat, red deer, fallow deer, roe deer,mouflon,donkey,andman).Strainsoriginated from eleven Federal States in Germany. Fifty isolates from two to six tissues per individual animal (n=15, 6 herds) were analysed for co-infections at the individual animal level. Appreciating the relatively low genetic heterogeneity of MAP, three DNA-based genotyping methods were applied in combination: IS900-RFLP (BstEII, PstI)-, MIRu-vNTR (8 markers)-, and SSR (3 loci) - analysis. About 50 combined MAP genotypes were detected. A discriminatory index of 0.97 was achieved, considered sufficient for epidemiological studies. Most of the isolates belonged to the main MAP-Type-II group. Only isolates from five sheep and two cattle belonged to the main MAP-Type-I/III group. Four common strains weredetectedin13upto31holdingsoffiveuptonine Federal States. A plethora of rare or single genotypes (i.e. from man) were found. No host preference of genotypes within MAP-Type-II group was unveiled. The diversity of MAP within cattle herds varied. up to six genotypes could be found in individual herds, depending on frequency of animal trade. Detection of different MAP genotypes in tissues of four individual animals was interpreted as co-infection by different strains. Within a restricted area (Eifel National Park) with known shared habitats of wild-living and farmed animals, genotyping results imply that specific MAP strains had been transmitted between and within these species. By this, red deer and cattle maintained areservoirforspecificMAPgenotypesnotfoundin other areas of Germany. These results represent an unprecedented detailed overview of MAP genotypes in Germany. Multi-target genotyping, as applied here, may help to unveil MAP transmission routes between animals and different species, as well as the entry routes of the organisms into the environment and food chain. 103 P84 STABILITY OF GENOTYPING TARGETS IN MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSP. paRaTUBERCULOSIS (MAP) UPON CULTIVATION ON DIFFERENT MEDIA, In vITRO AND In vIvO PASSAGE, AND NATURAL INFECTION Nadine Kasnitz, Heike Köhler, Petra Möbius Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Molecular pathogenesis, nRL for paratuberculosis, Jena, germany MAP - the causative agent of paratuberculosis affects domestic and wild ruminants worldwide. Recently, we suggested a combination of different typing techniques to yield a sufficient discriminatory power for exhaustive epidemiological studies. In order to challenge the reliability of this approach the stabilityofdefinedMAPgenotypeswasinvestigated after: (A) sub-cultivation on six different media, (B) 12 in vitro passages, and (C) in vivo (goat) passage. Various sub-cultures of type, reference and 24 field strains as well as inoculation strain re-isolated from different tissues of 11 goats were genotyped by MIRuvNTR-, SSR-, and IS900-RFLP-analysis. Results were compared with initial genotypes. The target sequences of MIRu-vNTR analysis (Loci 292, X3, 25, 47, 7, 32) were stable after in vitro cultivation and passages (A+B) as well as after in vivo passage (C). Results of SSR typing at loci 8 and 9 (trinucleotides) and at locus 1 with seven G nucleotides were also stable. However, 10 instead of 9 G repeats were detected at locus 2 after animal passage, possibly because of strand slippage during chromosomal duplication. Of note, 11 and more G repeats at SSR loci 1 and 2 could only be inconsistently analyzed due to strand slippage during PCR, sequence reactions or chromosomal duplication. This frequently resulted in mixed-sequences or fading off of the base calls. We therefore strongly recommend applying 11 as cut-off value for SSR typing of MAP. After in vitro cultivation (A+B) but not after a single animal passage (C) changes in BstEII-patterns were detected by IS900-RFLP-typing for 3 out of 23 strains (including ATCC 19698). Rare IS900-RFLP-patterns were affected, independent of the used medium. Two field strains exhibited changed IS900-RFLP as well as SSR-profiles (at stable SSR loci 8 and 9), suggesting primary mix-isolates and selective subcultivation. Multiple isolates from individual animals or an individual cattle herd naturally infected by MAP showed identical IS900-RFLP- and MIRu-vNTRgenotypes, but different numbers of G repeats at SSR locus 2. This implies strand slippage during chromosomal duplication of bacteria in the course of spread of infection within individual hosts and herds. Consequently, SSR locus 2 should not be considered as genome marker for epidemiological studies. When keeping in mind above-mentioned limitations 104 for RFLP- and SSR-genotyping, the investigated techniques are reliably capable of differentiating MAP strains. P122 PREVALENCE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSPECIES paRaTUBERCULOSIS AND MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSPECIES hOMInISSUSIS IN BIOGAS PLANTS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Monika Moravkova, Radka Pribylova, Iva Slana veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a causal agent of chronic intestinal disease of ruminants, which induces significant economic losses for farmers. The importance of this disease is increased with the possible link of MAP with Crohn´s disease in humans. Infected animals usually spread MAP through their faeces to the environment, which serves as source of infection for other animals. Mycobacterium avium subspecies hominissusis (MAH) is widespread in the nature regardless in some cases may affect the humans (usually immunocopromised) and animals as well. The aim of the current study was to determine the prevalence of MAP and MAH in the fermentors of 18 farm-scale biogas plants in the Czech Republic using the real time quantitative PCR (qPCR). All tested biogas plants were supplemented by the farm excrements and fermented products were used for fertilization or bedding. Each biogas plant was examined at two times. Totally, MAP DNA was detected in 44 % (8/18) of biogas plants. The number of MAP cell in positive samples ranged around 102 – 103 per gram. MAH DNA was detected in all examined samples and the number of MAH ranged around 103 – 106 per gram. This work was supported by Grant No. MZE0002716202 of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Education, youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Grant “Admirevet” No. CZ 1.05/2.1.00/01.0006-ED0006/01/01). P129 MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF HUMAN ISOLATES BELONGING TO MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM COMPLEx COLLECTED DURING THE YEARS 2005-2010 IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Michal Slany1, Vit Ulman2, Eva Kalakayova2, Iva Slana1 1 veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic 2 Institute of public health in Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic Members of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) are widespread in the environment, and have been isolated from many avian and mammalian species including man. The MAC includes two principal species M. avium subsp. avium (MAA) and M. a. hominissuis (MAH) frequently associated with human diseases. Avian mycobacteriosis is becoming disseminated for vulnerable populations (patients with HIv or chronic diseases). The aim of the present study was to state distribution of the insertion sequence IS901 (MAA specificlocus)inmycobacterialstrainsisolatedfrom human patients in Moravian region identified as members of MAC by GenProbe. A total of 242 MAC isolates (124 patients) collected during years 2005-2010 were put to detailed analyses. Sputum samples were homogenized, decontaminated with sodium laurylsulfate, and cultured on LöwensteinJensen medium. DNA isolated from single bacterial colony was subjected to triplex real time PCR based on insertion sequences IS901 and IS1245 according to the previously described method by Slana et al. (2008). Simultaneous sequence analysis (16S rRna, ITS and hsp65) of IS901 and IS1245 negative isolates was carried out. The main sources of MAA infection are considered domesticated bird, while MAH is mainly acquired from soil. The low prevalence of IS901 (7 %) was expected, because only few patients included in the study reported close contact with birds (pigeons or hens). Other mycobacteria detected within analyzed group (124 patients) were: MAH (69%), M. intracellulare (18%) and newly described MAC members (6%; M. arosiense, M. chimaera, M. colombiense, M. marseillense). MAC members are second common cause of pulmonary mycobacterioses after M. tuberculosis. The most frequent MAC causing pulmonary infections was MAH. This fact was in accordance with published data. Low prevalence of MAA could be explained by only occasional contact of humans with infected birds, while exposition to contaminated soil or aerosols with MAH is more frequent. Presented triplex real time PCR is able to differentiate two etiological agents (MAH, MAA) with different place of origin. This work was supported by Grant No. MZE0002716202 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Grant “Admirevet” No. CZ 1.05/2.1.00/01.0006-ED0006/01/01 from the Ministry of Education, youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. P130 SOIL AND PLANT CONTAMINATION WITH M. a. paRaTUBERCULOSIS FROM TISSUES OF INFECTED ANIMALS Marija Kaevska1, Samuel Lvoncik2, Jiri Lamka3, Iva Slana1, Ivo Pavlik1 1 veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Institute of plant Biology, agronomical Faculty, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic 3 Faculty of pharmacy in hradec Kralove, Charles University in prague, Czech Republic 2 Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (M. a. paratuberculosis) is a causal agent of paratuberculosis also called Johne´s disease, an incurablechronicinflammationindomesticandfree living ruminants. Animals acquire the infectious agent through ingestion, thus contaminated food and water are most important sources of infection. Infected animals shed high amount of M. a. paratuberculosis in the environment, where it can survive and remain virulent for a long time. The aims of this study were to describe spatial contamination of the environment on a mouflon pasture; as well to assess the contamination of grass and roots after surface contamination and in depth contamination with buried tissues from animals infected with M. a. paratuberculosis. Different organs from deceased infected animals were laid on the pasture on spots which were fenced to preclude movement of animals. Also, two animals were buried at 60 cm of depth in order to study possible contamination of roots and plants after their decay. After one year, samples of soil, roots and plants were collected and examined from different locations inside the mouflon pasture, and one control sample site was chosen outside the area where the animals are living. M. a. paratuberculosis DNA was present in all of the examined sites and was more often detected in roots than in soil. DNA was detected up to 80 cm of depth and was spatially more widespread than the initial hypothesis of M. a. paratuberculosis leeching vertically in deeper layers of soil. This study broadens our knowledge of spread and persistence of M. a. paratuberculosis in an environment with highly infected animals. Acknowledgements The work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Agriculture (No. MZe0002716202) and the Ministry of Education, youth and Sports (Admirevet, CZ 1.05/2.1.00/01.0006; ED0006/01/01.) of the Czech Republic. P134 MONITORING OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSP. paRaTUBERCULOSIS SURVIVAL IN FERMENTED MILK PRODUCTS BY MEANS OF CULTURE AND qUANTITATIVE REAL TIME PCR METHODS Barbora Klanicova1, Iva Slana1, Petr Roubal2, Petr Kralik1 1 veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic 2 Dairy Research Institute, prague, Czech Republic 105 Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), increasingly discussed as a possible mediator of human Crohn’s disease, is causative agent of paratuberculosis in ruminants. It is capable to survive diverse conditions like high temperature (pasteurization), low temperature (refrigerated storage) or very low pH (stomach). Infant powder milk, cheese, cream and other milk and dairy products might thus be considered as possible sources of MAP for humans. The aim of our study was to examine the survival of two MAPfieldisolatesduringfermentationofthreedifferent fermented milk products (yoghurt, acidophilus milk and kefir) under laboratory conditions. Pasteurized MAP-free milk was artificially contaminated with 106 MAP cells/ml and survival and absolute numbers of MAP were monitored during fermentation (4 or 16 h) and after six weeks of storage at 4 °C by culture and quantitative real time PCR (qPCR). viability of MAP was determined by culture using Herrold’s egg yolk medium and Middlebrook 7H10 with antibiotics, supplemented with Mycobactin J and incubated at 37 °C for up to 12 weeks. The absolute numbers of MAP were quantified by previously published qPCR assays targeting F57 and IS900 loci in MAP genome. We confirmed that MAP can survive pH reduction; however, longer exposure to pH below 4 in fermented milk products seems to be crucial because it inhibits the growth. Therefore we concluded that probiotic cultures that can decrease pH below 4 during fermentation could provide better inactivation of MAP in fermented milk products. The work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Agriculture (No. MZe0002716202, qH81065) and the Ministry of Education, youth and Sports (Admirevet CZ 1.05/2.1.00/01.0006, ED0006/01/01) of the Czech Republic. P145 MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF MyCOBaCTERIUM ChELOnaE-M. aBSCESSUS GROUP ISOLATES WITHOUT CONCLUSIVE SPECIES IDENTIFICATION Christiane Lourenco Nogueira1, Cristianne Kayoko Matsumoto1, Luciano Antonio Digiampietri2, João Carlos Setubal3, Sylvia Cardoso Leão1 1 Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e parasitologia – Universidade Federal de São paulo, Brazil 2 Escola de artes, Ciências e humanidades – Universidade de São paulo, Brazil 3 Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química – Universidade de São paulo, Brazil nontuberculous mycobacteria are ubiquitous environmental organisms and several species can 106 cause opportunistic infections in humans, in particular the members of the M. chelonae-M. abscessus group. until recently, this group was composed by M. chelonae, M. abscessus, M. immunogenum, M. bolletii, M. massiliense and M. salmoniphilum. Taxonomic changes were proposed, among them the inclusion of M. franklinii and the unification of M. abscessus, M. massiliense and M. bolletii in a single species (M. abscessus) with two subspecies (M. abscessus subsp. abscessus and M. abscessus subsp. bolletii). We analyzed a group of 28 isolates, identified by the INNO-LiPA test as M. chelonae CHII, with inconclusive species classification. PCRrestriction enzyme analyses (PRA) of the hsp65 gene and ITS (16S-23S Internal Transcribed Spacer) and DNA sequencing of 16S rDNA, hsp65, rpoB and ITS were used for molecular characterization of these isolates. The obtained sequences were compared to sequences of the type strains of M. abscessus, M. chelonae, M. immunogenum, M. massiliense, M. bolletii, M. salmoniphilum and M. franklinii deposited in the GenBank. Sixteen isolates were identified as M. chelonae by PRA-hsp65 and PRA-ITS and this identification was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Seven isolates were identified as M. chelonae by PRA-hsp65 and as M. abscessus by PRA-ITS. Among these, three isolates showed highest similarity of sequences with the sequences of M. franklinii or M. chelonae and four with sequences of M. salmoniphilum or M. franklinii. Three isolates showed a novel PRAhsp65 pattern and M. chelonae pattern by PRA-ITS. Sequences were highly similar to sequences of M. salmoniphilum or M. franklinii. The last two isolates were identified as M. immunogenum by PRAhsp65 and M. abscessus by PRA-ITS. Sequences were more similar to sequences of M. franklinii. In conclusion, the identification of 12 isolates (42.8%) was not reached by PRA plus sequence analysis and additional molecular and phenotypic analyses are necessary to determine the taxonomic classification ofthesesisolates.Phylogenetictreesconfirmedthat the INNO-LiPA® M. chelonae CHII cluster isolates have high internal variability. P150 CRITICAL ROLE OF TOLL-LIKE RECEPTOR 2 IN MyCOBaCTERIUM BRUMaE-INDUCED ANTITUMOR ACTIVITY Silvia Secanella-Fandos1, Carmen Fernández2, Esther Julián1 1 Dept. genètica I Microbiologia. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 2 Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Mycobacterium bovis BCG is the standard treatment forsuperficialbladdercancer.Untilnow,theprecise mechanisms by which BCG acts as antitumor agent are not fully understood. But it is widely recognized that mycobacteria are a source of modulating molecules of the human immune system, and some of these antigens are recognized by Toll-like receptors (TLR), which are directly involved in the antitumor immunity. In this sense, a role of TLR2 and TLR4 in cell activation mediated by BCG has been described, and some previous studies suggest a significant function of TLR receptors on BCG antitumor activity. However, nothing is known about TLR function on antitumor activity of M. brumae, a new proposed agent for immunotherapeutic treatment. To identify a possible role of TLR signaling, the cytotoxicity against tumor cells of M. brumae-activated bone marrow macrophages (BMM) derived from TLRdeficientmicewasstudied.Firstly,wemeasuredthe antitumor activity of M. brumae, BCG and M. gastri (as negative control) against a murine tumor bladder cell line (MB49). Secondly, BMM from C57/BL6 wild type, TLR-2, TLR-4 and MyD88-knockout mice were infected with different mycobateria, and cytokine and chemokine production was detected. Finally, the cytotoxic activity against tumor cell of mycobacteriaactivated BMM was analyzed. Our results showed that both BCG and M. brumae directly inhibit murine tumor cell proliferation. In addition, BCG and M. brumae infection trigger a significantly higher cytokines and chemokines production in BMM, in comparison to cytokineproduction induced by M. gastri or non-infected cells. In all cases, the production of cytokines and chemokines is markedly TLR-2 and MyD88-dependent, and only in part depends on TLR-4 signaling. Strikingly, M. brumae elicit a higher release than BCG of IL-12 and IP-10, two crucial molecules in bladder antitumor therapy. Finally, BCG and M. brumae-activated BMM showed cytotoxic activity dependent on TLR-2 and MyD88, but not TLR-4. Overall,ourfindingssuggestthatBCGandM. brumae antitumor activity depends on TLR-2 and MyD88 signaling, while TLR-4 4 is only partially required for the antitumor activity of mycobacteria. P165 MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS IN WILDLIFE: FIRST REVIEW FOR SLOVENIA Mateja Pate, Urska Zajc, Darja Kusar, Diana Zele, Gorazd Vengust, Tina Pirs, Matjaz Ocepek University of Ljubljana, veterinary Faculty, Ljubljana, Slovenia Wildlife is recognised as an important reservoir of mycobacterial infections that seriously endanger the efforts to control and eradicate bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in countries with persistent BTB. Since 2009, SloveniahasbeenofficiallyfreeofBTB,buthasnot yet monitored for the presence of mycobacteria in wild animal species. Therefore, the aim of this work was to asses the prevalence of mycobacterial infections in wildlife. A total of 321 apparently healthy free-range wild animals were investigated: red deer (n = 122), roe deer (n = 84), wild boar (n = 43), fallow deer (n = 25), wolf (n = 19), badger (n = 8), chamois (n = 8), fox (n = 6),mouflon(n=2),polecat(n=1),ibex(n=1),stone marten (n = 1), and jackal (n = 1). Samples of liver and mandibular, mediastinal and mesenteric lymph nodes were Ziehl-Neelsen stained and cultivated using Stonebrink, Middlebrook 7H10, Löwenstein-Jensen with pyruvate, Löwenstein-Jensen with glycerine and MGITmedia.Cultureswereidentifiedonthebasisof colony morphology, GenoType Mycobacterium CM and AS assays (Hain Lifescience), and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Mycobacteria were isolated from 39/321 (12.15%) animals, namely from red deer (17/122), roe deer (8/84), wild boar (7/43), fallow deer (6/25) and jackal (1/1). The most frequently detected species was M. peregrinum (n = 8), followed by M. avium (n = 7), M. intracellulare (n = 4), M. engbaekii (n = 4), M. confluentis (n = 2), M. fortuitum (n = 2) and M. terrae(n=2).Singleisolateswereidentified as M. celatum, M. neoaurum, M. nonchromogenicum and M. vaccae,andsixcouldonlybeidentifiedtothe genus level. Members of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex were not detected. Thisworkprovidedthefirstinsightintothesituation regarding mycobacterial infections in wild animals in Slovenia. With the exception of M. avium, most of the discovered mycobacterial species could not be regarded as highly hazardous for the spill-over into domestic livestock or human population as they represent conditionally pathogenic or non-pathogenic mycobacteria. P166 GENOTYPE ASSAY COUPLED WITH 16S RRNA AND RPOB SEqUENCING: A GOOD APPROACH TOWARDS IMPROVED IDENTIFICATION OF NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA IN A VETERINARY LABORATORY? Mateja Pate1, Darja Kusar1, Urska Zajc1, James Higgins2, Patrick Camp2, David Farrell2, Doris Bravo2, Tod Stuber2, Matjaz Ocepek1 1 University of Ljubljana, veterinary Faculty, Ljubljana, Slovenia 2 national veterinary Services Laboratories, ames, Iowa, USa Discoveries of novel species of mycobacteria can complicate efforts to properly assign accurate and up-to-date taxonomic information to the isolates. Conventional methods have mostly been replaced with molecular assays, but no gold standard for identificationofmycobacteriaisavailable.Inthescope of a survey on mycobacteria from various animal species, a pilot study was conducted to improve identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria in a 107 veterinary laboratory. A panel of 49 isolates was used to compare GenoType (GT) Mycobacterium CM/AS assays and sequencing of 16S rRNA and rpoB genes. Isolates originated from33aquariumfishand16wildanimals(reddeer, roe deer, wild boar and fallow deer). Assignation of isolates to species was performed using BLAST analysis of rpoB and 16S rRNA sequence depositions in the NCBI and RIDOM web-servers. Isolates were identifiedasM. celatum (n=1), M. cheloane (n=3), M. confluentis (n=1), M. engbaekii (n=3), M. fortuitum (n=5), M. gordonae (n=1), M. intracellulare (n=2), M. kansasii/M. gastri (n=2), M. marinum/M. ulcerans (n=9), M. neoaurum (n=1), M. nonchromogenicum (n=1), M. peregrinum (n=5) and M. terrae (n=5). Ten isolateswereidentifiedtothegenuslevelonly. A complete concordance of the results generated by all three methods was observed for 13 isolates belonging to M. marinum/M. ulcerans (n=8), M. celatum (n=1), M. gordonae (n=1), M. fortuitum (n=1) and M. chelonae (n=2). However, incongruence of the results of all three methods was observed in 4 cases. Comparison of the sequencing results was not possible for 5 isolates due to poor-quality sequences. For 3 isolates, discrepancy between GT and sequencing results was detected. 16S rRNA and rpoB sequencing results gave conflicting species assignmentsfor9isolates.Thiscouldreflectdifficulties when identifying closely related species, deposition of poor-quality or misidentified sequences in public databases, lack of a comprehensive database for rpoB sequences, uncertainty about expected intra/ inter-species sequence variability and possibility of lateral transfer of rpoB gene. In conclusion, a combination of colony morphology, GT assay and 16S rRNA or rpoB sequencing proved useful for resolution of mycobacterial species encountered in this study. However, in case of incongruent results or species not supporting differentiation by sequencing, conventional phenotypic methods or PCR assays targeting the species-specific genes should also be considered. P167 NON-PATHOGENIC MYCOBACTERIUM FOR THE TREATMENT OF NON-INVASIVE BLADDER CANCER Silvia Secanella-Fandos1, Estela NogueraOrtega2, Hasier Eraña2, Jofre Gasión2, Marina Luquin1, Esther Julián1 1 Dept. genètica I Microbiologia. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 2 Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain Bladder cancer is the most common malignant disease of the urinary tract. Approximately, 75-85 % ofpatientswithbladdercancerhavediseaseconfined 108 to the mucosa and submucosa when it is diagnosed. After transurethral resection, intravesical instillation ofliveBCGiscarriedout.DespitetheBCGbenefits in preventing tumor recurrence and progression, this treatment has limitations and causes some problems that compromise its use. Apart from not severe toxicity associated problems, some patients suffer more serious side effects, even including systemic BCG infection. Because of these drawbacks it is necessarytofindalternativestotreatbladdercancer, more efficient and safer than live BCG. These facts, lead us to search new tumor immunotherapy agents,inparticularweaimedtofindnon-pathogenic mycobacteria with antitumor activity. After choosing a group of non-pathogenic mycobacteria, we assessed their direct antitumoral effect on grade 1 (RT4, SW780 and MG-Hu-3), grade 2 (RT112 and 5637) and grade 3 (T24 and J82) human bladder cancer cell lines. We studied both the mycobacteria ability to inhibit tumor proliferation and to trigger cytokines production. Therefore, we selected themostefficaciousmycobacteriaasantitumoragent and analyzed their capacity to activate an immune response crucial for an indirect antitumor activity. Cytokine production and activation expression markers (CD40, CD80 and CD86) were detected on mycobacteria infected-J774 murine macrophages. Moreover cytokine production and cytotoxic activity against tumor bladder cells of mycobacteria-infected peripheral blood cells were analyzed. Our results showed that the majority of nonpathogenic mycobacteria are unable to inhibit tumor growth. However, among all mycobacteria studied, M. brumae shows increased cytotoxic activity than BCG on grade 1 and 2 tumor bladder cells, and a similar cytotoxic activity than BCG against grade 3 cells. M. brumae also triggers the production of cytokines in infected bladder cells. In addition, this mycobacterium induces the expression of activation markers and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines on infected murine macrophages and PBMC. Finally, we demonstrated that M. brumae-activated PBMC show cytotoxic activity against T24 bladder cancer cells. In conclusion, our results suggest that M. brumae could be a possible alternative to BCG on bladder cancer treatment. P168 SPECIFIC FORMULATION OF MYCOBACTERIA IMPROVES ITS ANTITUMOR ACTIVITY AGAINST BLADDER CANCER CELLS Estela Noguera-Ortega1, Núria Blanco-Cabra2, Mónica Roldán3, Marina Luquin2, Esther Julián2 1 Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 2 Dept. genètica I Microbiologia. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain 3 Servei de Microscopia. Universitat autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is currently the most effective agent for therapy of intermediate and high risk superficial bladder cancer. Following transurethral resection, live BCG is administered in order to prevent recurrence, tumor progression and prolong survival. Although it has been used for more than thirty years, little is known about the interaction between mycobacteria and bladder cancer cells. For instance, considering that mycobacteria have a highly hydrophobic cell wall which makes them form clumps, it is understandable that aggregation can influence in the efficacy of mycobacteria in inhibiting tumor growth. In order to deeper into this topic, in the present work weaimedtostudytheefficacyofdifferentformulations on disaggregating mycobacteria clumps and on inhibiting tumor growth. We prepared different formulations of BCG and Mycobacterium brumae, a non-pathogenic mycobacterium which has a similar effect to BCG as antitumor agent. Clumping and mycobacteria viability were analyzed for each formulation. After selecting the most innocuous preparations, T24 human and MB49 murine bladder cancer cell lines were infected with formulated mycobacteria and tumor growth inhibition and IL-6 and IL-8 cytokine production were measured. Our results indicate that both BCG and M. brumae preparedusingsomeformulationsreduceefficiently tumor cell proliferation. Moreover, formulated mycobacteria trigger higher production of cytokines in bladder tumor cell cultures than mycobacteria prepared as it is currently used in patients’ treatment. We can conclude that BCG and M. brumae in this kind of formulation could be a suitable alternative to the present BCG treatment for non-invasive bladder cancer. P191 PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS CAUSED BY M. SzULgaI: CASE REPORT Kemal Tekin1, Ferhat Onur Ural2, Mustafa Guney1, Seyfettın Gumus2, Ali Albay3 1 Department of Medical Microbiology, gulhane Military Medical academy, ankara, Turkey 2 Department of pulmonary Medicine, gulhane Military Medical academy, ankara, Turkey Pulmonary tuberculosis is a contagious and life threatening disease, still continues to be a public health problem in all countries. Generally caused by M. tuberculosis complex but nontuberculosis mycobacteria, especially M szulgai is less causative agent. Inthiscasereportwepresentthediagnosisofafiftyfour years old man who has pulmonary tuberculosis caused by M. szulgai. The patient admitted our hospital with complaining of cough with hemorrhagic sputum, weakness and weight loss. In addition to these symptoms he has an anamnesis of pulmonary tuberculosis caused by M. tuberculosis twenty years ago.Subsequenttoconsolidationandinfiltrationareas were observed by chest X-ray and computerized tomography;gastricfluidexaminationwasperformed comprising acid fast staining (2+ positive), PCR and culture. According to all the diagnostic tests, pulmonary tuberculosis caused by M. szulgai was reported and antituberculous therapy (isoniasid, rifampin, pirazinamid and etambutol) was initiated. M. szulgai is a scotochromogenic species (at 37 0C) that causes pulmonary disease resembling M. tuberculosis infections and extrapulmonary infections (olecranon bursitis, cutaneous infection, osteomyelitis etc.). In addition to this clinic manifestation, disseminated infection occurs in immunocompromised patients. First-line antituberculosis drugs can be used for the treatment of M.szulgai infections. By this case report, we call attention to the nontuberculosis mycobacteria that may also be considered as a cause of pulmonary tuberculosis, especially when isolated from patients with symptoms. P195 BLOODSTREAM INFECTION BY MyCOBaCTERIUM aBSCESSUS: A CASE REPORT Serhat Duyan1, Mustafa Guney1, Erman Ates2, Abdullah Kilic1, Ali Albay1 1 gulhane Military Medical academy, School of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, ankara, Turkey 2 gulhane Military Medical academy, School of Medicine, Department of pediatrics, ankara, Turkey 10-year-old female patient was diagnosed with stage Iv neuroblastoma, followed in department of pediatric at Gulhane Military Medical Academy Training Hospital, Ankara. Bone marrow transplantation was done. It was considered that transplanted tissue was engraftment after the 28th day of tranplantation. She had a seizure with shaking fever which was 400C, after the 118th day of transplantation. Ralstonia spp. was grown on her blood culture. Appropriate antibiotic treatment was started immediately and her clinical appearance was improved instantly. The last blood culture which was taken before her discharge was detected as positive. Small, white colonies were seen in blood agar media, which was isolated from positive blood culture bottles within 48 hours. Identification of this bacteria was made by MALDI-TOF MS (Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry). It was identified as Mycobacterium abscessus. Acid fast stain was made to confirm this result. Acid-fast bacili were seen on microscobic examination. PCR 109 (polymerase chain reaction) was used to verify the results. Mycobacterium abscessus was detected by PCR. Growth of Mycobacterium abscessus was reported to the clinic but it was also stated that it could be a contamination. Although the possibility of contamination, macrolid treatment was given to this patient because of her immunosuppressive status. She was discharged with oral antibiotic treatment. By this case report, we call attention to the nontuberculosis mycobacteria (M. abscessus) when isolated from immunosuppressive patients. New systems like MALDI-TOF MS are useful for early detection of this kind of rare microorganisms. P203 PULMONARY DISEASE BY NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA . A 10 YEARS STUDY Maria Teresa Tortola Fernandez 1, Carmen Aleman2, Meritxell Espuga3, Israel Molina4, Jose Angel Rodrigo5, Nuria Saborit6, Asuncion Seminario7, Teresa Soriano2, Alba Torrent8, Nuria Martin-Casabona1 1 Microbiology Service, Barcelona, Spain 2 Internal Medicine, Barcelona, Spain 3 Unit of prevention in Labor, Barcelona, Spain 4 Infectious Diseases Service, Barcelona, Spain 5 preventive Medicine Service, Barcelona, Spain 6 Tb nurse Case Manager, Barcelona, Spain 7 pneumology Service, Barcelona, Spain 8 pediatric pneumology Service, Barcelona, Spain Objective: To describe the epidemiological characteristics, etiology, predisposing factors, treatment and outcome of lung disease by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) diagnosed in our hospital during the years 2000-2010. Material and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients diagnosed with NTM lung infection between 2000 and 2010 in our hospital. We collected epidemiological, microbiological, predisposing factors, treatment and evolution data. For diagnosis of pulmonary infection we followed the criteria of the American Thoracic Society. All specimens were digested and decontaminated using the method described by Kent and Kubica. After decontamination and concentration, the specimens were prepared for: 1/ microscopic examination; 2/ samples were inoculated in MGIT medium and incubated in Bactec MGIT 960 (Becton Dickinson Diagnostic Instrument System. Maryland, USA). Identification was performed with GenoType® Mycobacterium CM/AS (Hain Lifescience GmbH). Results: Of the 172 patients enrolled, 54 (31.3%) met clinical criteria for NTM lung disease. They were 30 men and 24 women with a mean age of 56.93 ± 17.69 years (range 14-91). Thirty-one (57.4%) patients showed respiratory predisposing factors, the most frequent was bronchiectasis 12 (38.7%). 110 NTM species isolated from patients with pulmonary disease were: 16 M. avium complex (13 M. avium, 3 M. intracellulare), 11 M. kansasii, 9 M. scrofulaceum, 6 M. xenopi, 2 M. abscessus, 2 M. mucogenicum, 2 M. celatum, 1 M. chelonae, 1 M. fortuitum, 1 M. gordonae, 1 M. malmoense, 1 M. noncromogenicum and 1 M. simiae. Thirty-four (62.9%) patients were treated, 5 patients were not treated and 15 patients were not recorded. Regarding the evolution of patients treated, 19 (55.8) cases had no record of evolution but we had it in 15 (44.1%). Those patients treated and with known evolution (15), 13 (86.6%) were cured, 1 (6.6%) remained in treatment at the time of the study and 1 (6.6%) died of causes unrelated to infection with NTM. The most common antibiotic combination (5) was rifampicin, ethambutol and clarithromycin. Conclusions: 1/ One-third of the patients met clinical criteria of NTM pulmonary disease. 2/ M. avium complex, M. kansasii and M. scrofulaceum have been the species most frequently associated with lung disease in our hospital. 3/ Thirteen (86.6%) of the treated patients and known evolution were cured. P213 CASE REPORT OF MyCOBaCTERIUM TILBURgII INFECTION Timur S. Akpinar1, O.K. Bakkaloglu1, Burak Ince1, O. Kaya Koksalan2, Nesimi Buyukbabani3, Bulent Saka1, Nilgun Erten1, Zeki Kilicaslan4, Cemil Tascioglu1 1 Dept. of Internal Medicine, Istanbul Med. Faculty, Istanbul Univ., Istanbul, Turkey 2 Detae, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 3 Dept. of pathology, Istanbul Med. Faculty, Istanbul Univ., Istanbul, Turkey 4 Dept of Chest Dis. and Tuberculosis, Istanbul Med. Faculty, Ist. Univ., Istanbul, Turkey The advent of new mycobacterial identification techniques resulted in an upsurge in the number of newly described mycobacterial species, increased detection from direct specimens, which negate the need for culture, finally in heightened interest in mycobacterial infections. We herein report a case of lymphadenitis caused by Mycobacterium tilburgii from an immune-competent adult patient in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. A 26-year-old woman presented with a low-grade abdominal pain of 10 months history. Her medical history was unremarkable except for poorly recalled childhood pneumonia. First medical evaluation was inconclusive. Further investigation with MRI revealed multiple abdominal conglomerating lymphadenopathies (LAP) with partly cysticnecrotic structure. PET-CT marked FDG avidities at supraclavicular, lower cervical, hilar, subcarinal and paraaortocaval LAP’s with sud-max up to 9. Excisional biopsy of right axillary and left inguinal lymph nodes showed intrasinusoidal histiocytosis, pericapsular chronic inflammatory changes without any neoplastic cell infiltration. Her second inguinal lymph node biopsy was reported as diffuse nodular histiocytosis. On the 3rd month, new cervical LAP and exudative ascites were detected. Ascites assessment was inconclusive. Excisional biopsy of new left cervical LAP showed histiocytic infiltration with widespread intra-cytoplasmic acid-fast bacilli. She was then initiated to HRZE regimen. under this treatment she presented with pulmonary symptoms andreticulonodularinfiltrationonchestCT.HerESR and CRP concentrations were persistently high. Because of disease progression under treatment specimen was directed for PCR identification. M. tilburgiiwasidentifiedbyusing16SrDNAsequencing from FFPE-cervical and -inguinal lymph nodes. Afterhavingreceivedtheunambigiousidentification, the treatment was reverted to CLR, CIP, rifabutin, EMB, AMK. At the 10th month of her treatment she presented with chylous ascites. Thoracic duct injury was suspected but further intervention was postponed because of ascites complications. At the end of the 2nd year of her diagnosis, she died of sepsis due to a secondary bacterial peritonitis attack while she was still under antimycobacterial treatment for more than 20 months. To our knowledge here we present the 8th case from which M. tilburgiiismicrobiologicallyidentifiedasthe causative agent and mark M. tilburgii as a pathogen for severe disseminated lymphadenitis in immunecompetent patients P216 THE DISABILITY IN LEPROSY DUE TO SOCIAL STIGMA Hernando Yesid Estupiñán Velásquez1, Debora Villa Villa2, Wellman Ribon3 1 grupo de Inmunología y Epidemiología Molecular, Bucaramanga, Colombia; Master Student Biomedical Science, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia 2 Secretaría de Salud de Santander , Bucaramanga, Colombia 3 grupo de Inmunología y Epidemiología Molecular, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia Background: During 2010 leprosy has been the cause of more than 13000 new cases with grade-2 disabilities of the 228,474 reported. As a result, World Health Organization (WHO) implemented a program in order to reduce about 35% the occurrence of disability. In Colombia, disabilities cases are 27 of the 295 new cases, considering Santander department as a locality with a high disease burden, due to 21% of cases with disability. High levels of cases areprobablyinfluencedbytheirlocationinurbanor rural places or by the appearance of the stigma in the society, such as, the fear to promote isolation of the disease and cause the emergence of stereotypes thatsegregatetheill,inducingattitudesthatdifficultit identificationandpromotesthedisability.Objective: to determinate social stigma as promoter of disability. Methods: a data collection tool was applied to 120 people selected by simple random sampling, for establish the socio-demographic characteristics, the knowledge state about leprosy, and the establishment of stigmatizing attitudes. The analysis was carried out by percents using the calculation tool “Excel” with license present in the “uIS”. Result and discussion: The people was analyzed and classified onA, B, C and D groups according to their concepts about the leprosy, establishing as evaluative judgments, the recognition of the disease, the route of infection, the firstsymptomsandthestateofhealing.Wedetected that about 22% of the population know to depth the disease and 67% says they´re not afraid of contagion, but between 60 and 85% of them have 17 different attitudes that evidence ill rejection. In consequence, weidentifiedtheexistenceofgapsontheconception of the disease. 69% of the people most knowledgeable about leprosy expressed attitudes of isolation of the sick and more that 65% related leprosy with leper and misshapen stereotypes, indicating the presence of stigma and rejection of the disease. Therefore it was set for the first time the state of knowledge about leprosy in Santander and it was determined the components of the stigma that affect sick and modifies the attitudes of the groups they frequents, isolating and avoiding its identification, causing the emergence of disability. Conclusions: the stigma in Santander people produces attitudes that require a future academic intervention to promote the objectives of the strategy of the WHO for the identification of the sickness and for the reduction of it disability. Acknowledgments: Mycobacterium, Laboratorio de Investigación y Extensión, Grupo de Inmunología y Epidemiología Molecular, Maestría Ciencias Básicas Biomédicas, universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia. P218 PULMONARY MYCOBACTERIOSIS CAUSED BY MyCOBaCTERIUM pEREgRInUM IN AN OLD WOMAN Ionela Sorina Muntean1, Adriana Drăgan1,Daniela Homorodean2, Sven Hoffner3 1 pneumophtisiology hospital Brasov, România 2 Leon Daniello pneumophtisiology Clinical hospital Cluj-napoca, România 3 Supranational Reference Laboratory Stockholm, Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden A 75 years old woman, never-smoker, with pulmonary simptomatology, was referred to our hospital 111 because of wheesing, productive caugh and fever. Low immunity status was present due to associated diseases, like: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, rheumatic fever, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The chest X-ray and Computer Tomograph showed nodular shadows in the upper left lobe and no pulmonary lesions in progress. Two sputa and one bronchoalveolar lavage had negative smears, but only one of the three correspondent cultures was positive. The biochemical tests revealed the presence of a non-tuberculous mycobacteria. The laboratory tests also showed very high values for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (over 100 mm). The clinician started the therapy very soon, before having the results for species identification. Treatment consisted of Isoniazide, Rifampicin, Pyrazinamide and Ethambutol.Afterreceivingthespeciesidentification result (Mycobacterium fortuitum) from the National Reference Laboratory, the treatment was continued with a combination ofAmikacin and Ofloxacine, for 2 months. The patient’s status improved and finally was considered cured. The more detailed results came from the Supranational Reference Laboratory Stockholm and showed the presence of M. peregrinum, a variety included in M.fortuitum group. We described a rare case of pulmonary mycobacteriosis due to M.peregrinum in an old woman with underlying diseases. Conclusion: 1. Rapidandcorrectidentificationof Mycobacterium clinical isolated strain is important for the tratment of the patient; 2. Clinicians should be prepared to diagnose and treat mycobacteriosis. P226 MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM COMPLEx (MAC) MEMBERS RECOVERED FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES IN A HOSPITAL IN A 3-YEAR PERIOD Julio Alvarez1, Beatriz Romero 2, Claudio Cuartero3, Javier Bezos2, Carmen Casal Comendador2, N. Sánchez2, Johanna Gimeno2, Lucas Domínguez4, Enrique Gómez-Mampaso3 1 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (vISavET), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Microbiología, hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain 2 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (vISavET), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 3 Servicio de Microbiología, hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain 4 Centro de vigilancia Sanitaria veterinaria (vISavET), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Sanidad animal, Facultad de 112 veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain MAC infection may cause i) pulmonary disease in immunocompetent patients that suffer from other predisposing diseases ii) lymphadenopathies (mainly in children), iii) generalized infections usually in immunocompromised patients, and iv) pulmonary disease in immunocompetent patients without other predisposing diseases (“Lady Windermere syndrome”) primarily caused by M. intracellulare. However, the evaluation of the significance of MAC isolation from clinical samples is seriously impaired by the wide environmental distribution of certain of its members (mainly Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis, Mah),whichleadstothefindingofMAC in samples from asymptomatic (and nondiseased) individuals due to either a contamination of the sample or a transitory colonization of the host. The objective of this study was to identify to the species/ strain level using molecular tools a representative selection of the MAC members recovered from clinical samples in a hospital in 2010-2012 and to determine if an association between species/subspecies and a higher persistence/virulence in patients exists. 71 isolates were recovered from respiratory (n=53) and urine (n=18) samples from patients with different medical records (recurrent infection with MAC, vIH, predisposingrespiratorydiseases…)andidentifiedas MAC using commercial probes. Detection of insertion sequences IS1245/IS901 and sequencing of the hsp65 and rpoβ genes and the internal transcribed spacer were carried out to perform species/subspecies/ strain identification. A subset of isolates was also subjected to MALDI-TOF analyses, and all laboratory results were then compared with the apparent clinical significanceoftheisolates. Overall 52 Mah, 14 M. intracellulare, 3 M. marseillense and 2 M. chimaera isolates were identified, with patients with chronic MAC infections usually harboring M. intracellulare. A notable degree of genetic heterogeneity was found with the exception of urine and a proportion of respiratory Mah isolates, suggesting the existence of contamination of the sample or exposure to common sources of prevalent environmental MAC strains. The different distribution of MAC species among patients suggest that distinct epidemiological patterns/colonization capacities may exist related with the environmental setting and/or MAC species implicated. P228 CHARACTERIZATION OF MYCOBACTERIUM IN WILD BIRD GROUPS DISTRIBUTED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SANTANDER , COLOMBIA Jhoner Rueda1, Fernando Rondón2, Wellman Ribon3 1 Escuela de Biología, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia Escuela de Biologia, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia 3 grupo de Inmunología y Epidemiología Molecular, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia 2 Avian mycobacteriosis is a disease caused by different species of mycobacteria, usually nontuberculous; belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex and Mycobacterium genavense,whicharedifficultto diagnose and control. Wild birds play an important role in the circulation and in the ecology of mycobacteria, having a crucial role in the spread of avian mycobacteriosis in animal and human populations at risk. This study aims to evaluate the presence of mycobacterial species in wild birds in situ conditions in rural areas of Santander Department, Colombia. In order to reach this purpose, we took oropharyngeal swabs and blood samples of birds, which were analyzed by molecular techniques using PRA method for mycobacterial species identification. At the present, we have evaluated 500 wild birds corresponding to thefollowing orders Passeriformes (91.4%), Columbiformes (3.8%), Piciformes (2.4%), Psittaciformes (1.2%), Cuculiformes (0 , 6%), Accipitriformes (0.2%), Apodiformes (0.2%) and Gruiformes (0.2%), showing no alteration in their ethology at thesampling time . The results of this work can be a good indicator to monitor and to ensure the integrity of wild birds and the possible risk of infection between birds and humans, in the country with the highest diversity of birds in the world. Tracking mycobacteria in birds should be an ongoing activity especially in those countries that are visited by migratory birds or those like Colombia , which are megadiverse countries obliged to preserve these species. P235 MyCOBaCTERIUM aFRICanUM IN PORTUGAL: A CASE REPORT Luisa Sancho1, Clara Portugal1, Luisa Tancredo1, Maria Silva1, Angela Dias1, Filomena Silva1, Germano Sousa1 1 Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Clinical pathology, hospital Fernando Fonseca, amadora, portugal Mycobacterium africanum is rarely found in developed countries and is most commonly found in West African countries. It has a similar degree of infectivity compared to M.tuberculosis but with a slower clinical evolution. A 6 years old child came to our Hospital with a big supraorbital hematoma after a traumatism one month before. She was surgical drained and the pus was send to microbiology. On admission, she was in good general condition and with no fever. Blood tests showed anemia (hemoglobin 9,8g/dl), leukocyte count of 11 600/mm3, and platelet count 523 000/mm3. One week later, she came again to our hospital emergency department with supraorbital swelling with extension to the frontal region that turns impossible the eye opening. She was submitted to new surgical intervention and was medicated with Amoxicilin/ clavulanic acid. The purulent material’s first smear was negative for acid-fast bacilli. The sample was processed by NACL/ NaOH method and cultured in both Bactec MGIT 960 (Becton-Dickison, uSA) and Lowenstein-Jensen. The cultures became positive in 30 days and 8 weeks, respectively. The identification was made in BD MGIT TBc identification test (Biomerieux) from the MGIT, with positive result for M.tuberculosis Complex. The M.tuberculosis Complex´s species that have human host are M.tuberculosis, M.africanum, M.canettii and M.bovis BCG; being M.tuberculosis the prevalent. Given this atypical location, it was asked a second sample of pus. The result was confirmed with a positive smear. Afterthismicrobiologicalconfirmation,thepatientwas admitted in the Pediatric ward to further study and presumptive antituberculosis therapy with isoniazid, rifampin. ethambutol, and pyrazinamide was started. The positive smear morphology made us suspect other Micobacteria different from M.tuberculosis. The culture was send to the reference laboratory “Laboratório de Saúde Pública Micobacterilogia / Tuberculose – ARSLVT” and was identified as M.africanum by Genotype MTBC (HAIN LIFESCIENCE) method. The isolate was susceptible to classic antituberculosis drugs. In terms of epidemiology, this child had occasional contacts with an uncle who lived in Senegal. We think that is probably the source, once this country has a high prevalence of this bacteria. In spite of the initial presentation of this case, as a supraorbitalabcess,thefinaldiagnosisofthispatient was: miliar, bone and articular tuberculosis with vertebral involvement. P239 OCCURRENCE OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM SUBSP. paRaTUBERCULOSIS IN ROAD KILLED WILD CARNIVORES IN PORTUGAL Ana Matos1, Luis Figueira1, Maria Helena Martins1, Manuel Martins1, Filipa Loureiro2, Maria de Lurdes Pinto2, Manuela Matos3, Ana Cláudia Coelho2 1 School of agriculture, polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, portugal 2 Department of veterinary Sciences, School of agrarian and veterinary Sciences, University of 113 Trás-Os-Montes E alto Douro (Utad), veterinary and animal Science Center (Cecav), vila Real, portugal 3 Department of Genetics and Biotechnology; Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre of genomic and Biotechnology, University of Trás-Os-Montes and alto Douro (Utad), vila Real, portugal Paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) is a chronic granulomatous gastroenteritis affecting ruminants that is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) leading to emaciation and death. The disease is prevalent worldwide and has a significantfinancialimpactonthoseaffected.Cases of Map infection have been reported previously in free-ranging wild carnivores but there are limited data regarding the isolation and detection of the agent in this taxonomic order. A survey to determine the occurrence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) was conducted in 74 wild carnivores found death on roads in Central Portugal from 2009 to 2012. Post mortem examination was done and tissues were collected from wild carnivores representing 4 families and 7 different species. Culture was performed and acid-fast isolates wereidentifiedbyPCRandmycobactindependency characteristics. using a PCR-based method tissues were screened for the presence of species-specific IS900. The occurrence of infected animals was 27.0% (n=20). Infection was recorded in 6 out of the seven studied species: 7/49 (14.3%) fox (vulpes vulpes), 3/3 (100%) beech marten (Martes foina), 2/4 (50.0%) Otter (lutra lutra), 7/15 (46.7%) Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), and 1/1 (100%) badger (Meles meles). Map infection was not recorded in the two genets (Genetta genetta) studied. Infection was found in three taxonomic families: 14.3% in Canidae, 75.0% in Mustelidae and 46.7% in Herpestidae. In total, 666 samples were studied in culture (portions of ileocecal valve, distal jejunum and ileum, mesenteric, mediastinal, and retropharyngeal lymph nodes, spleen, brain, liver, lung, kidney) and 25 (3.8%) had positive results. Tissue samples were also studied by PCR and 40 (6.0%) had positive results. Map was grown from tissues from 8 animals. Culture positive samples came from 4 species (fox, n=5; beech marten, n=1; otter, n=1; Egyptian mongoose, n=1). PCR positive samples came from 5 species (fox, n=3; beech marten, n=2; otter, n=1; Egyptian mongoose, n=7). In culture, infection was less associated with spleen and liver. In contrast, in PCR, infection was most frequently associated with spleen and mediastinal lymph nodes. Evidence of generalized widespread infectionwasfoundinfive(71.4%)confirmedfoxes, in2(66.7%)confirmedbeechmarten,in1confirmed otter (50.0%), in 5 (71.4%) confirmed Egyptian mongoose and in the only (100%) confirmed and studied badger. This study is the first to identify that Map infection 114 can be prevalent in wild carnivores in Portugal. According to our results there was a high occurrence of Map infection among wild carnivores and suggest that several wild carnivores could contribute to the persistence of Map infection within a wildlife complex. P240 SEROSURVEY OF MyCOBaCTERIUM avIUM COMPLEx IN WILD BOARS IN PORTUGAL Ana Matos1, Luis Figueira1, Maria Helena Martins1, Manuel Martins1, Manuela Matos2, Maria de Lurdes Pinto3, Ana Claudia Coelho3 1 School of agriculture, polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, portugal 2 Department of Genetics and Biotechnology; Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre of genomic and Biotechnology, University of Trás-Os-Montes and alto Douro (Utad), vila Real, portugal 3 Department of veterinary Sciences, School of agrarian and veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-Os-Montes E alto Douro (Utad), veterinary and animal Science Center (Cecav), vila Real, portugal Mycobacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) can infect poultry, pigs and ruminants in the food productions chains which may be a source of food borne illnesses in humans. Mycobacteriosis is frequently reported among wild boar populations in Europe. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological situation of MAC in Central Portugal. Sera from 90 hunter-killed wild boars were collected between 2009 and 2012 in natural regions of Central Portugal and stored at -20ºC. Demographic characteristics were recorded. Animals were categorized in juveniles (< 8 months) and adults (> 8 months) using tooth eruption patterns. Serological testing was carried out to all sampled animals using a commercial indirect enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (ID Screen®) test based on detection of antibodies against Mycobacterium avium in multiple-species. Chisquared(χ2) tests were used to evaluate differences in positivity between adults and juveniles, males and females,presenceoflesionsandlocal.Thesignificant level for the test was set at p= 0.05. univariate logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio. In total, 90 samples of wild boar belonging to 2 counties in Centre-western Portugal were investigated for the presence of antibodies against MAC. Twenty six (28.9%) samples were positive, following the ELISA kit manufacturer’s instructions. The seropositivity values among males and females were 38.5 and 61.5%, respectively (p=0,249). Regarding age-groups, the lowest value of seropositivity (46.2%) was found in juveniles, and the highest (53.8%) in adults (p=0,101). Seropositivity was high in animals with good body condition (57.7%) but differences were not statistically significant (p=0,992).Twenty animals did not showed lesions, 6 (30.0%) of them were seropositive. From the seventy animals that showed any lesion consistent with mycobacteriosis, twenty (28.6%) were seropositive. Serologically positive animals were distributed across the two counties and the differences were statistically significant. Lesions consistent with mycobacteria infection were observed in 70 (77.8%) animals.The possible risk factors for seropositivity were evaluated. In the univariate analysis one variable was found to be statisticallysignificanttoseropositivity:thecounty.The results showed an increased odds for seropositivity when the animals belonged from Idanha-a-Nova when compared with animals from Penamacor (OR 6.28, 95% CI 1.36, 29.09). ELISA platforms provide inexpensive and readily automated techniques for high number of samples. However, availability of serum samples from wild animals is often limited. Carcasses with various degrees of decomposition are often the only material available. The results of this survey indicate that antibodies against MAC measured by ELISA are widely distributed in wild boars in Central Portugal. (1), M.malmoense (1), M.xenopi (1), the type isn’t defined (1). Critical concentrations for antibiotics are not developed. For DST we determined MIC to antimicrobial drugs using 96-well plates (Magellan Bioscience,21 drugs). All species of NTM had a different spectrum of drug susceptibility. M.avium strains were sensitive to moxifloxacin (MIC from 2 to 4 mkg/ml),MIC for clarithomycin was 8-16 mkg/ ml. Strains of M.kansasii were sensitive to linezolid (MIC 8-16 mkg/ml), moxifloxacin (1 mkg/ml), clarithomycin (0.5-4 mkg/ml), rifabutin and rifampin (1 mkg/ml). M.simiae was sensitive to moxifloxacin only (2 mkg/ml), M.intracellulare was sensitive to high concentrationoflinezolid(32mkg/ml),moxifloxacin(2 mkg/ml), amikacin (32 mkg/ml),clarithomycin (2 mkg/ ml). Among rapidly growth mycobacteria M.fortuitum strains were sensitive to linezolid (4-32 mkg/ml), to all concentrations of ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin, amikacin. Strains of M.chelonae and M. abscessus were sensitive to linezolid (4-32 mkg/ml),amikacin (16 mkg/ml),tigecycline (1-2 mkg/ml), tobramycin (to all concentrations). Conclusion: 19 patients with preliminary TB diagnosis were determined as patients with mycobacteriosis. Determination of MIC to 21 antibiotics allows physicians to prescribe adequate treatment. P254 TB OR MYCOBACTERIOSIS: DETECTION, SPECIES IDENTIFICATION AND DST IN PRACTICE OF MICROBIOLOGY LAB Tatiana Smirnova1, Elena Larionova1, Sofia Andreevskaya1, Alena Vorobyeva1, Larisa Chernousova1 1 Central Tb Research Institute of Rams, Moscow, Russia There is a problem with diagnostics of mycobacteriosis in Russia. Species identification of mycobacterial cultures is not performed in bacteriology labs over Russia. Number of patients infected with NTM is unknown. DST is not carried out for NTM. The goal for our study was to determine the share of patients with mycobacteriosis in the total number of TB patients hospitalized in CTRI in the course of 20112013. Additionally MIC for NTM was performed. 1596 positive MGIT tubes were studied (from 872 patients). For suspected samples (negative results of PCR IS6110, positive Ziehl-Neelsen stain) species identification using GenoTypeCM/AS (HAIN Lifescience, Germany) were carried out. Of 1596 cultures, 113 cultures (7.08%) belonged to NTM (from 75 patients). For 19 patients NTM strains belonged to the same species were revealed from sputum more than one time. Following spectra of NTM strains were detected: M.avium (7), M.kansasii (4), M.abscessus (2), M.intracellulare (2), M.gordonae 115 IGRA AND LATENT TB P118 INDETERMINATE qUANTIFERON-TB GOLD INTUBE RESULTS IN CHILDREN: ASSOCIATION WITH PNEUMONIA? Giulia Lombardi1, Paola Dal Monte1, Agnese Denicolò1, Antonella Pace1, Roberta Petrucci2, Ilaria Corsini2, Maria Letizia Bacchi Reggiani3, Salvatore Cazzato2, Maria Paola Landini1 1 Microbiology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi general hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy 2 pediatric pneumology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi general hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy 3 Cardiology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi general hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy Introduction: Recent immunological assays based on the measurement of released interferon-gamma after stimulation of T-cell responses with Mycobacterium tuberculosis specific antigens (IGRAs) have been developed for the immunodiagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). A major concern about the use of IGRAs in children regards the possibility of higher frequency of indeterminate results, because their immune system can still be immature. Aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of indeterminate results in children and their possible association with diagnosis. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the routine use of quantiferon-TB Gold In-Tube (qFT-IT; Cellestis, Australia) on 445 children at the Pediatric Pneumology unit of S. Orsola-Malpighi General Hospital during the period April 2007-August 2012. Patients were divided by age groups as follows: < 2 years old (n=122), 2-5 years old (n=151), 5-10 years old (n=126) and 10-17 years old (n=66). Results: In our pediatric population: mean age was 5.4 ± 3.9 years, 246 (55%) were male, 99 (22%) were not Italy-born, 179 (40%) were born in Italy from immigrant families and 167 (38%) were Italian. qFTIT was positive in 70 (16%) children, negative in 353 (79%) and indeterminate in 22 (5%). All indeterminate qFT-IT results in this study were due to an inadequate response to PHA; 3 patients had a known iatrogenic immunosuppression. Indeterminate results were not statistically distributed among different age groups (p=0.386). Diagnosis was available in 321 (72%) children: 30 (9%) were diagnosed as LTBI, 38 (12%) as active TB, 34 (11%) as pneumonia, 219 (68%) were exposed to a TB case. Indeterminate qFT-IT results were distributed as follows: 0% in LTBI, 0% in active TB, 0.5% in exposed to a TB case and 23.5% in 116 pneumonia. A statistically association with diagnosis of pneumonia was observed (p=0.0001). Conclusion: These preliminary data suggest that age hasn’t effect on frequency of indeterminate qFTIT results, supporting the use of this immunological test in young children. In our population pneumonia seems a risk factor associated with indeterminate qFT-IT. Immunological anergy due to pneumonia should been further investigated. P233 CLINICAL AND ROENTGENOLOGICAL FEATURES IN CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENT PROFILES OF IMMUNOLOGICAL TESTS Anna Starshinova, Pavel Gavrilov, Natalia Korneva, Irina Dovgaluk St.-petersburg Research Institute of phthisiopulmonology, St. petersburg, Russia Objectives: to identify clinical and X-ray features in childrenwithdifferentprofilesofimmunologicaltests Materials and methods: At children department of Saint-Petersburg Institute of Phthisiopulmonology 120 patients aged from 3 to 14 years were examined during 2010-2012. All patients were assessed by immunological tests (Diaskintest ® and quantiFERONTB Gold) and multislice computer tomography angiography (MCT-AG). According to the results of immunological tests patients were divided into 2 groups: I group - negative reaction of immunological tests (n = 64), II group - with positive tests (n = 56). Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica 8.0 and chi-square criterion. Results: The results of measurements of intrathoracic lymph nodes in CT angiography for the short axis in the axial projection are presented in Table 1. Tabl.1 The size of the lymph nodes (mm) in children withdifferentprofilesofimmunologicaltests The size of the lymph nodes (mm) I group (n = 64) II group (n =56) <0,2 46.8%(30)* 17.8% (10) 2-5 29.8% (19) 1.8% (1) >5 23.4%(15) 80.4%* (45) ChildrenintheIgrouphavesignificantlyhigher(46.8%) size of the lymph nodes <0,2 mm, while in the II group - >5 mm (80.4% vs. 23.4%, χ2=33.93, р<0,001). Children with positive QFT-G (II) have significantly higher intoxication syndrome in comparison with I group (61.2% vs. 21.3%, χ2 = 17,8, p<0,001). In 73.9% cases (р<0,001) in group II calcification in intrathoracic lymph nodes was revealed. Conclusion: Positive results of the immunological tests accompanied by intoxication syndrome in the majority of cases in children are associated with the enlargement of intrathoracic lymph nodes greater than 5 mm and signs of specific TB inflammation. 117 AUTHOR INDEX Abad, Yoandra 29, 101 Abadia, Edgar 22, 70 Abouljadayel, Naela 12, 19, 56 Agerberth, Birgitta 11, 18, 53 Aizikov, Dmitriy 26, 88 Ajbani, Kanchan 11, 18, 49 Akpinar, Timur S. 31, 110 Albay, Ali 27, 31, 92, 109 Aleman, Carmen 31, 110 Alende, Tatiana 23, 73 Alexandru, Sofia 11, 18, 28, 52, 95 Al-Hajoj Al-Nakhli, Sahal 12, 19, 56 Al-Hakeem, Raafat 12, 19, 56 Ali, Asho 20, 62 Alic, Amer 29, 102 Alkhovik, Olga 20, 60 Allen, Adrian 9, 17, 45 Allix-Béguec, Caroline 9, 17, 33, 44 Almeida da Silva, Pedro 20, 59 Alrabiah, Fahad 12, 19, 56 Alvarez, Julio 23, 31, 73, 74, 112 Alyapkina, Yulia 27, 93 Amaro, Ana 27, 92 Ambroggi, Martha 25, 84 Ambrosi, Alessandro 28, 99 Andersen, Åse Bengård 24, 80 Andreevskaya, Sofia 32, 115 Anthony, Richard 11, 18, 22, 26, 52, 68, 70, 88 Antonov, Victor 26, 88 Antunes, A 25, 84 Anzola, Juan Manuel 9, 16, 41, 42 Aranaz, Alicia 21, 67 Archakova, Ludmila 27, 94 Arenas-Guzmán, Roberto 29, 101 Aspindzelashvili, Rusudan 22, 70 Ates, Erman 31, 109 Augustynowicz-Kopeć, Ewa 26, 87 Azé, Jérôme 24, 78 Bablishvili, Nino 22, 70 Bacchi Reggiani, Maria Letizia 32, 116 Bachiyska, Elizabeta 10, 17, 48 Bagdasarian, Tatev 28, 97 Bakkaloglu, O.K. 31, 110 Barrera, Lucia 25, 84 Barth, Aline 10, 18, 49 Bastard, M. 24, 77 Baumanis, Viesturs 24, 76 Bauskenieks, Matiss 24, 76 Bautista, Jose Manuel 28, 98 Beckert, P. 24, 77 Bektas, Abdullah 23, 73 Bentley, Stephen 9, 16, 41 Berg, Stefan 40 Bergval, Indra 22, 68, 70 Bermingham, Mairead 9, 17, 45 118 Besirovic, Hajrudin 29, 102 Bespyatykh, J 20, 61 Bezos, Javier 21, 23, 31, 66, 74, 112 Biek, Roman 24, 77 Bimbi, Nicola 10, 17, 46 Bishop, Steve 9, 17, 45 Bjoern-Mortensen, Karen 24, 80 Blagoadeteleva, Galina 27, 91 Blanco-Cabra, Núria 31, 108 Bloemberg, Guido V. 22, 25, 27, 67, 83, 90 Boisset, Sandrine 22, 71 Boniotti, Maria Beatrice 23, 72 Bonnet, M. 24, 77 Borgdorff, Martien 22, 33, 69 Borroni, Emanuele 26, 87 Böttger, Erik C. 22, 25, 27, 67, 83, 90 Brankova, Nadia 22, 70 Bravo, Doris 30, 107 Brosch, Roland 9, 14, 35 Bryant, Josephine 12, 33 Burakova, Marina 28, 97 Bustos, Jose Ricardo 9, 16, 42 Butcher, Philip 10, 14 Buyukbabani, Nesimi 31, 110 Byun, Hyun Sub 21, 64 Bzekalava, Nino 22, 70 Cabibbe, Andrea M. 26, 86, 87 Cambau, Emmanuelle 8, 11 Camp, Patrick 30, 107 Cardoso, A 25, 84 Cardoso Leão, Sylvia 12, 19, 30, 55, 106 Carret, Gérard 22, 71 Carricajo, Anne 22, 71 Casal Comendador, Carmen 21, 23, 31, 66, 74, 112 Casali, N. 28, 96 Catanzaro, Antonino 11, 18, 28, 49, 95 Causse, Manuel 25, 81 Cazzato, Salvatore 32, 116 Celikkan, Cigdem 29, 99 Cesur, Salih 23, 27, 74, 91 Ceyhan, Ismail 23, 74 Chan Jung, Suk 21, 64 Cherednichenko, Andrey 20, 60 Chernousova, Larisa 32, 115 Chesov, Dumitru 28, 95 Chryssanthou, Erja 22, 70 Cirillo, Daniela M. 9, 26, 28, 86, 87, 99 Cittaro, Davide 9, 16, 43 Clark, Taane G 9, 10, 14, 16, 20, 36, 41, 62 Codecasa, Luigi 28, 99 Coeck, Nele 26, 86 Coelho, Ana Cláudia 32, 113, 114 Coll, Francesc 9, 16, 41 Comas, Iñaki 15, 40 Condamine, Bénédicte 9, 17, 44 Copano, María Francisca 23, 73 Corsini, Ilaria 32, 116 Coscolla, Mireia 40 Costa, Pedro 27, 92 Costa, Manuela 29, 102 Couto, Isabel 11, 18, 24, 27, 53, 79, 92 Couvin, David 22, 71 Crudu, Valeriu 11, 18, 27, 28, 49, 52, 91, 95 Cuartero, Claudio 31, 112 Cvetnic, Zeljko 21, 29, 65, 102 Cynamon, Michael 29, 102 Dadu, Andrei 11, 18, 51 Dal Monte, Paola 23, 32, 72, 116 Dara, Masoud 11, 18, 51 David, Suzana 5, 12, 25, 84 de Beer, Jessica 22, 33, 68, 69, 70 de Colombani, Pierpaolo 11, 18, 51 de Jong, Bouke 26, 86 de Juan, Lucía 21, 23, 66, 73, 74 De La Torre, Teresa Zardán Gómez 10, 17, 48 de Mendoza, Carmen 28, 98 de Vos, Margaretha 9, 16, 28, 44, 96 Deggim, Vanessa 22, 27, 67, 90 Del Portillo, Patricia 9, 10, 16, 17, 41, 42, 48 den Hertog, Alice 11, 18, 26, 52, 88 Denicolò, Agnese 32, 116 Derendorf, Hartmut 10, 18, 49 Dhole, Tapan N 25, 82 Dias, Angela 32, 113 Diel, Roland 10, 17, 47 Diez, Amalia 28, 98 Digiampietri, Luciano Antonio 30, 106 Dippenaar, Anzaan 20, 59 Dlamini, Th. 24, 77 Dogan, Gokselin 27, 92 Domente, Liliana 11, 18, 28, 52, 95 Domínguez, Lucas 21, 23, 31, 66, 73, 112 Dovgaluk, Irina 12, 19, 32, 58, 116 Duarte, EL 25, 84 Duvnjak, Sanja 21, 65 Duyan, Serhat 31, 109 Dymova, Maya 20, 60 Echemendia, Miguel 25, 82 EDCTP TB CHILD Consortium 86 Ehlers, Stefan 9, 16, 43 Eisenach, Kathleen 9 Eliseev, Platon 22, 70 Engström, Anna 10, 17, 48 Eraña, Hasier 31, 108 Erkose Genc, Gonca 29, 100 Erten, Nilgun 31, 110 Erturan, Zayre 29, 100 Erzsébet Iringó, Zaharia Kézdi 27, 93 Escamilla-Tilch, Monica 29, 101 Espuga, Meritxell 31, 110 Estrada Parra, Sergio 29, 101 Estrada-García, Iris 29, 101 Estupiñán Velásquez, Hernando Yesid 31, 111 Eszter, Vas Krisztina 27, 93 Etchart, Ana 23, 75 Fabio, Anna 20, 61 Fafutis, Mary 29, 101 Fajfar, Nataša 21, 62 Fallico, Loredana 26, 89 Farrell, David 30, 107 Fattorini, Lanfranco 11, 12, 19, 54 Fauville, Maryse 22, 68 Fernandez, Paulo 24, 78 Fernández, Carmen 30, 106 Ferraro, Giuseppina 23, 72 Ferreira, Stéphanie 9, 17, 44 Ferreira, Ana 27, 92 Ferro, Beatriz 22, 68 Feuerriegel, Silke 26, 87 Figueira, Luis 32, 113, 114 Figueroa, Maria Alvarez 28, 94 Filipenko, Maxim 20, 60 Flandrois, Jean-Pierre 22, 71 Floto, Andres 12, 19, 56 Forbicini, Giulia 20, 61 FP7 TM REST Consortium 86 Fregni Serpini, Giulia 20, 61 Fritsch, Isabel 29, 103 Gagneux, Sebastien 9, 40 Ganiats, Theodore 11, 18, 49 Gao, Qian 40 Garcia, Maria Jesus 9, 11, 16, 28, 41, 42, 98 García, Grechen 25, 29, 81, 101 García de Viedma, Darío 21, 23, 66, 73 Garfein, Richard 11, 18, 49 Garrido, Carolina 28, 98 Garzelli, Carlo 10, 17, 46 Gasión, Jofre 31, 108 Gavrilov, Pavel 32, 116 Gennari, William 20, 61 Giannoni, Federico 11, 19, 54 Gimeno, Johanna 112 Glass, Liz 9, 17, 45 Goletti, Delia 12, 15, 28, 39, 99 Gómez-Mampaso, Enrique 31, 112 Gomgnimbou, Michel 10, 17, 20, 48, 60 Gonzalez-y-Merchand, Jorge 9, 16, 41, 42 Gori, Andrea 9, 14, 35 Goria, Maria 23, 72 Gorina, Galina 22, 70 Govorun, V 20, 61 Granados, Julio 29, 101 Groessl, Erik 11, 18, 49 Grogono, Dorothy 12 Grottola, Antonella 20, 61 Gudmundsson, Gudmundur 11, 18, 53 Guducuoglu, Huseyin 23, 73 Gumus, Seyfettın 31, 109 Guney, Mustafa 27, 31, 92, 109 Gutiérrez, Alexandra 21, 66 Hasan, Rumina 20, 62 Hasan, Zahra 20, 62 Hayes, Cindy 11, 18, 49 Helguera-Repetto, Addy Cecilia 9, 16, 42 119 Henriques, V 25, 84 Hernandez, Adriana Carolina 9, 16, 42 Hernández-Neuta, Ivan 10, 17, 48 Herthnek, David 10, 17, 48 Higgins, James 30, 107 Hillemann, Doris 8 Hoffner, Sven 5, 11, 15, 18, 23, 26, 31, 37, 51, 76, 87, 88, 111 Homorodean, Daniela 11, 18, 23, 28, 31, 51, 76, 95, 111 Hubans-Pierlot, Christine 9, 17, 44 Ilina, E 20, 61 Inácio, João 27, 92 Ince, Burak 31, 110 Isaeva, Y 20, 61 Ischenko, D 20, 61 Jackson, Roberta Lynn 11, 18, 49 Jacomo, Véronique 22, 71 Jang, Yoonra 21, 64 Jang, Yun-Ho 21, 64 Jang, Jae Min 21, 64 Jansone, Inta 24, 76 Jochims, F. 24, 77 Jodal, Andreea Melinda 11, 51, 23, 28, 76, 95 Johnson, Judith 10, 18, 49 Jordao, Luisa 24, 79 Julca, Natalia 28, 98 Julián, Esther 29, 30, 31, 102, 106, 108 Kaevska, Marija 30, 105 Kalakayova, Eva 30, 104 Kamper-Jørgensen, Zaza 24, 80 Kang, Shin-Seok 21, 64 Kant, Surya 25, 82 Kao, Rowland 24, 77 Karpova, I 20, 61 Kasnitz, Nadine 30, 104 Katalinic-Jankovic, Vera 11, 21, 65 Kayoko Matsumoto, Cristianne 12, 19, 30, 55, 106 Kilic, Abdullah 31, 109 Kilicaslan, Zeki 31, 110 Kim, Narae 21, 64 Kim, Jae Myung 21, 64 Kisa, Ozgul 27, 92 Klanicova, Barbora 30, 105 Koarakozian, H. 24, 77 Kohl, Thomas 10, 17, 47 Köhler, Heike 29, 30, 103, 104 Koksalan, O. Kaya 31, 110 Korneva, Natalia 12, 19, 32, 58, 116 Korobitsyn, Alexei 26, 85 Kosloff, Barry 8 Kostryukova, E 20, 61 Krajewska, Monika 21, 22, 65, 66, 68 Kralik, Petr 30, 105 Kreiswirth, B. 28, 96 Kremer, Kristin 11, 18, 24, 51, 78 Kumar, Manoj 25, 82 Kurpina, N. 28, 96 Kusar, Darja 30, 107 120 Ladefoged, Karin 24, 80 Lamka, Jiri 30, 105 Landini, Maria Paola 32, 116 Lapenkova, Marina 27, 93 Larionova, Elena 32, 115 Larsson, Lars-Olof 22, 70 Lazarevic, Dejan 9, 16, 43 Le, Viet Hai 20, 60 Leite, CQF 25, 84 Lemus, Dihadenys 25, 82 Levterova, Viktoria 22, 70 Lidén, Ylva 26, 88 Lienhardt, Christian 11, 15, 38 Lillebaek, Troels 24, 80 Lina, Gérard 22, 71 Lipiec, Marek 21, 22, 65, 66, 68 Lombardi, Giulia 32, 116 López, Beatriz 23, 25, 75, 84 Lorenzo, Julia 29, 102 Lőrinczi, Lilla 27, 93 Loureiro, Filipa 32, 113 Lourenco Nogueira, Christiane 12, 19, 30, 55, 106 Louw, Gail Erika 9, 16, 44 Lozano, Francisco 23, 74 Lucke, Katja 25, 83 Ludannyy, Ruslan 28, 94 Luo, Tao 40 Luquin, Marina 29, 31, 102, 108 Lvoncik, Samuel 30, 105 Maaß, Silvia 9, 16, 43 Macedo, Rita 24, 79 Machado, Diana 11, 18, 24, 53, 79 Magnani, Rita 20, 61 Mairey, Mathilde 9, 17, 33, 44 Mallard, Kim 9, 16, 20, 41, 62 Mallon, Tom 24, 77 Malm, Sven 9, 16, 43 Mané, A 25, 84 Manganelli, Riccardo 26, 89 Manicheva, Olga 26, 88 Mansjö, Mikael 26, 88 Marin-Garcia, Patricia 28, 98 Markova, Nadya 28, 98 Martin, Nigel 9, 16, 41 Martin, Anandi 10, 17, 20, 25, 48, 59, 82, 83, 84 Martin, Carlos 12, 15, 38 Martin-Casabona, Nuria 31, 110 Martínez Romero, María Rosarys 25, 29, 81, 101 Martinez-Serna, Alejandra 28, 98 Martins, Maria Helena 32, 113, 114 Martins, Manuel 24, 32, 78, 113, 114 Martins Bispo, Paulo Jose 12, 19, 55 Maryandyshev, Andrey 22, 70 Mathys, Vanessa 26, 87 Matos, Ana 32, 113, 114 Matos, Manuela 32, 113, 114 Matteelli, Alberto 28, 99 Maurya, Anand Kumar 25, 82 May, Robert 10, 18, 49 Mazzola, Ester 23, 72 Mazzone, Piera 23, 72 McBride, Stewart 9, 17, 45 McCormick, Carl 24, 77 McDowell, Stanley 9, 17, 24, 45, 77 McNerney, Ruth 9, 16, 20, 41, 62 Mederos, Lilian María 25, 29, 81, 101 Memish, Ziad 12, 19, 56 Menendez, Maria Carmen 28, 98 Menting, Sandra 11, 18, 26, 52, 88 Merker, Matthias 9, 16, 28, 43, 95 Merker, M. 24, 77 Millet, Julie 23, 72 Mily, Akhirunnesa 11, 18, 53 Miotto, Paolo 9, 10, 14, 16, 26, 28, 36, 43, 87, 99 Möbius, Petra 29, 30, 103, 104 Moiseyeva, Svetlana 28, 97 Mokrousov, Igor 10, 12, 17, 19, 20, 21, 46, 55, 61, 64 Molina, Israel 31, 110 Monteserin, Johana 23, 75 Moravkova, Monika 30, 104 Morcillo, Nora 25, 83 Moya, Nuria 23, 74 Müllerová, Maria 24, 79 Muntean, Ionela Sorina 23, 76, 111 Murray, Megan 22, 69 Mustazzolu, Alessandro 11, 19, 54 Mwangoka, Grace 28, 99 Nag, Vijaya Lakshmi 25, 82 Nair, Mridul 20, 62 Nanni, Nadia 20, 61 Narvskaya, Olga 12, 19, 20, 21, 55, 61, 64 Navarro, Yurena 21, 23, 66, 73 Nebenzahl-Guimaraes, Hanna 22, 69 Nemes, Maria 27, 93 Niemann, Stefan 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 24, 26, 28, 34, 40, 43, 47, 57, 77, 87, 95 Nikishova, Elena 22, 70 Nilsson, Mats 10, 17, 48 Nodieva, Anda 24, 76 Noguera-Ortega, Estela 31, 108 Norbis, Luca 28, 99 Noroc, Ecaterina 11, 18, 27, 28, 52, 91, 95 Nosova, E 20, 61 Ocepek, Matjaz 30, 107 Onur Ural, Ferhat 31, 109 Orpella-Aceret, Gemma 29, 102 Orton, Richard 24, 77 Otten, Tatiana 12, 19, 20, 21, 55, 61, 64 Ovchinnikova, Julia 12, 19, 58 Ozere, Iveta 24, 76 Pacciarini, Maria 23, 72 Pace, Antonella 32, 116 Pain, Arnab 20, 62 Paixão, E 25, 84 Palacios, Juan José 23, 73 Palomino, Juan Carlos 10, 17, 20, 25, 48, 59, 82, 83, 84 Palù, Giorgio 26, 89 Panaiotov, Stefan 10, 17, 22, 48, 70 Parkhill, Julian 9, 12, 16, 19, 40, 41, 56 Pascarella, Michela 26, 89 Pate, Mateja 30, 107 Patraulea, Mihaela 27, 93 Pavlik, Ivo 30, 105 Pavlova, Mariya 27, 94 Pecorari, Monica 20, 61 Pedersen, Matthias K. 24, 80 Peloquin, Charles 10, 18, 49 Peracchi, Marta 26, 89 Perdigao, Joao 24, 79 Petrenko, Tatyana 20, 60 Petrucci, Roberta 32, 116 Pham, Minh Chau 20, 60 Piccaro, Giovanni 11, 19, 54 Pichat, Catherine 22, 71 Pietraforte, Donatella 11, 19, 54 Pinto, Maria de Lurdes 32, 113, 114 Piro, Benoit 20, 60 Pirs, Tina 30, 107 Poggi, Susana 25, 84 Pole, Ilva 24, 76 Portaels, Françoise 12, 15 Portugal, Clara 32, 113 Portugal, Isabel 24, 79 Potapenko, Elena 12, 19, 58 Prasovic, Senad 29, 102 Preston, Mark D. 9, 16, 41 Pribylova, Radka 30, 104 Prokopenko, Anastasiya 28, 94 Puyet, Antonio 28, 98 Racic, Ivana 21, 65 Rahim, Zeaur 11, 18, 53 Ramazanzadeh, Rashid 21, 64 Ramos, Daniela 20, 59 Ramos, Jorge 11, 18, 53 Ramos-Payán, Rosalío 29, 101 Raqib, Rubhana 11, 18, 53 Rasmussen, Erik M. 24, 80 Rassu, Mario 26, 89 Rastogi, Nalin 5, 9, 22, 23, 71, 72 Refrégier, Guislaine 10, 17, 24, 48, 78 Reisberg, Steeve 20, 60 Reither, Klaus 26, 28, 86, 99 Rekha, Rokeya 11, 18, 53 Reniero, Ana 23, 75 Ribeiro, Marta 20, 59 Ribeiro, Andrezza 20, 59 Ribeiro, Luis Caiola 24, 78 Ribon, Wellman 23, 31, 75, 111, 112 Riccardi, Giovanna 8, 15, 40 Rice, L. 28, 96 Ridell, Malin 8, 22, 70 Rigouts, Leen 26, 86 Rindi, Laura 10, 17, 46 Ritacco, Viviana 22, 23, 25, 68, 75, 84 121 Ritter, Claudia 22, 25, 27, 67, 83, 90 Rodrigo, Jose Angel 31, 110 Rodrigues, Camilla 11, 18, 49 Rodríguez, Juan Germán 9, 16, 41, 42 Rodriguez-Campos, Sabrina 21, 66 Rodwell, Timothy 11, 18, 49 Roldán, Mónica 31, 108 Romancenco, Elena 11, 18, 27, 28, 49, 52, 91, 95 Romero, Beatriz 21, 23, 31, 66, 73, 74, 112 Rondón, Fernando 31, 112 Rossetti, Maria Lucia 20, 59 Roubal, Petr 30, 105 Rueda, Jhoner 31, 112 Ruesch-Gerdes, Sabine 10, 24, 28, 77, 95 Ruiz, Pilar 25, 81 Ryder, Jon 9, 17, 45 Ryoo, Soyoon 21, 64 Sabbatini, Anna Maria Teresa 20, 61 Saborit, Nuria 31, 110 Saka, Bulent 31, 110 Salazar, M. Isabel 29, 101 Salem, JI 25, 84 Samoilova, Anastasia 28, 97 Sanca, A 25, 84 Sanchez, E. 24, 77 Sánchez, N. 112 Sánchez-Chardi, Alejandro 29, 102 Sancho, Luisa 25, 32, 84, 113 Santin, Katiane 12, 19, 55 Sapozhnikova, Nadezhda 27, 94 Sardiña, Misleidis 25, 29, 81, 101 Sarker, Protim 11, 18, 53 Satana, Dilek 29, 100 Schuitema, Anja 22, 68, 70 Secanella-Fandos, Silvia 29, 30, 31, 102, 106, 108 Seersholm, Niels Jørgen 24, 80 Seminario, Asuncion 31, 110 Sengstake, Sarah 22, 26, 70, 88 Setubal, João Carlos 30, 106 Shitikov, Egor 20, 61 Shulgina, Marina 26, 89 Silva, Maria 32, 113 Silva, Carla 24, 79 Silva, Filomena 32, 113 Simonetti, Maria Tullia 23, 72 Şimşek, Hülya 23, 27, 74, 91 Singh, Amresh Kumar 25, 82 Singh Kushwaha, Ram Awadh 25, 82 Sirgel, Frick 25, 83 Skenders, Girts 5, 24, 76 Sklaney, Mary 102 Skuce, Robin 9, 17, 24, 45, 77 Slana, Iva 30, 104, 105 Slany, Michal 30, 104 Slavchev, Georgi 28, 98 Sloot, Rosa 33 Smienk, Ernst 26, 88 Smirnova, Tatiana 32, 115 122 Sola, Christophe 10, 17, 20, 22, 24, 48, 60, 70, 78 Solovyeva, Natalya 21, 26, 27, 64, 88, 94 Somoskovi, Akos 27, 90 Soriano, Teresa 31, 110 Sotgiu, Giovanni 28, 99 Sousa, Germano 32, 113 Spicic, Silvio 21, 29, 65, 102 Spies, Fernanda 20, 59 Stakenas, Petras 26, 87 Starkova, Daria 12, 19, 55 Starshinova, Anna 12, 19, 27, 32, 58, 94, 116 Strømme, Maria 10, 17, 48 Stuber, Tod 30, 107 Stupka, Elia 9, 16, 43 Supply, Philip 8, 9, 14, 17, 33, 44 Sutre, AF 25, 84 Tagliabue, Silvia 23, 72 Tagliazucchi, Sara 20, 61 Tancredo, Luisa 32, 113 Tarasova, Irina 22, 70 Tarhan, Gülnur 23, 27, 74, 91 Tascioglu, Cemil 31, 110 Tekin, Kemal 27, 31, 92, 109 Thomsen, Vibeke Østergaard 24, 80 Tizzano, Barbara 9, 12, 16, 19, 43, 57 Torrent, Alba 31, 110 Torrents, Eduard 29, 102 Torres-Carrillo, Nora M 29, 101 Tortola Fernandez, Maria Teresa 31, 110 Tortoli, Enrico 4, 5, 12 Trewby, Hannah 24, 77 Trollip, Andre 11, 18, 49 Tuin, Kiki 22, 70 Turcanu, Nadejda 11, 18, 27, 28, 52, 91, 95 Turk, Derya 29, 99 Ulman, Vit 30, 104 Uzun, Meltem 29, 100 Valente, Ilaria C. 26, 28, 87, 99 van den Boom, Martin 11, 18, 51 van Helden, Paul 9, 16, 44 van Ingen, Jakko 22, 68 van Pittius, Nico Gey 20, 59, van Soolingen, Dick , 8, 9, 11, 14, 18, 22, 24, 33, 52, 68, 69, 70, 78 Vandamme, Peter 25, 84 Vaquero, Manuel 22, 69 Varghese, Bright 12, 19, 56 Varlamov, Dmitry 27, 93 Vasilyeva, Irina 28, 97 Vengust, Gorazd 30, 107 Victor, Thomas 9, 11, 16, 18, 44, 49 Viero, Marta 26, 89 Villa Villa, Debora 31, 111 Vishnevskiy, Boris 12, 19, 21, 55, 64 Vishnevsky, B 20, 61 Viveiros, Miguel 11, 18, 24, 27, 53, 79, 92 Vladimyrsky, Michail 27, 93 Voit, Antje 22, 27, 67, 90 von Groll, Andrea 20, 59 Vorobyeva, Alena 32, 115 Vyazovaya, Anna 12, 19, 20, 21, 55, 61, 64 Walker, Timothy 8, 14 Walzl, Gerhard 12, 15, 38 Wangh, L. 28, 96 Warren, Rob 9, 16, 20, 25, 28, 44, 59, 83, 96 Washington Reyes, Carlos 25, 82 Werngren, Jim 26, 88 Wilmanns, Matthias 12, 19, 57 Woolliams, John 9, 17, 45 Wright, David 9, 17, 24, 45, 77 Yablonsky, P 20, 61 Yakunova, Olga 12, 19, 58 Yaman, Gorkem 29, 99 Yeboah-Manu, Dorothy 40 Yegenoglu, Yildiz 29, 100 Young, Douglas 40 Zaha, Arnaldo 20, 59 Zajc, Urska 30, 107 Zambrano, Maria Mercedes 9, 16, 41, 42 Zambrano, Magda Lorena Orduz 23, 75 Zdelar-Tuk, Maja 21, 65 Zele, Diana 30, 107 Zhuravlev, Viacheslav 20, 26, 27, 61, 88, 94 Zolnir Dovc, Manca 21, 62 Zoltán, Lőrinczi 27, 93 Zomer, Aldert 22, 68 123
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