Whole genome sequencing of m. Tuberculosis strains in kazakhstan reveal genomic variants in genes coding pe/ppe protein family specific for mdr/xdr isolates

Worldwide in 2016, around 10.4 million people were diagnosed with TB among which 1.7 million died [1]. Despite the progress in decreasing the global incidence of drug-susceptible TB, multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis in the past decade led to decreased efficiency of chemotherapy. However, the rate of drug-resistant TB increases annually, especially multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) [1]