Analysis of MIF,FCGR2A and FCGR3A gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis in Moroccan population

In order to investigate the influence of functional polymorphisms of macrophage migration inhibitory factor （M/F）, Fcg receptors CD16A （FCGR3A） and CD32A （FCGR2A） genes on susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis （PTB） in the Moroccan population, we analyzed 123 patients with PTB and 154 healthy controls. The genotyping for M/F-173 （G/C） （rs755622）, FCGR2A- 131H/R （rs 1801274） and FCGR3A-158V/F （rs396991） was carried out using TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay method. We found a statistically significant in- crease of the MIF-173CC homozygote genotype and M/F-173＂C allele frequencies in PTB patients compared with healthy controls （17.07% versus 5.84%, P = 0.003; and 35.37% versus 26.30%, P = 0.02; respectively）. In contrast, no association was observed between FCGR2A-131H/R and FCGR3A-158V/F polymorphisms and tuberculosis disease. Our finding suggests that M/F-173℃ variant may play an important role in the development of active tuberculosis.

Genetic diversity and genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Morocco

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2),declared as a pandemic due to its rapid spreadworldwide.In this study,we investigate the genetic diversity and genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2,using 22 virus genome sequences reported by three different laboratories in Morocco till June 7,2020,as well as 40,366 virus genomes from all around the world.The SARSCoV-2 genomes from Moroccan patients revealed 62 mutations,of which 30weremis-sense mutations.Themutations Spike_D614G and NSP12_P323L were present in all the 22 analyzed sequences,followed by N_G204R and N_R203K,which occurred in 9 among the 22 sequences.The mutations NSP10_R134S,NSP15_D335N,NSP16_I169L,NSP3_L431H,NSP3_P1292L and Spike_V6F occurred once in Moroccan sequences,with no record in other sequences worldwide.Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Moroccan SARS-CoV-2 genomes included 9 viruses belonging to Clade 20A,9 to Clade 20B and 2 to Clade 20C,suggesting that the epidemic spread inMorocco did not display a predominant SARS-CoV-2 route.Therefore,multiple and unrelated introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into Morocco through different routes have occurred,giving rise to the diversity of virus genomes in the country.Further,in all probability,the SARS-CoV-2 circulated in a cryptic way inMorocco,starting fromJanuary 15,2020 before the first case was officially discovered on March 2,2020.