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Stuart Macregor, Tien Wong and colleagues report meta-analyses that identify 16 new loci associated with central corneal thickness. They also identify two loci associated with risk of developing keratoconus, a common corneal ectasia.
Roland Brosch and colleagues report whole-genome sequencing of tubercle bacilli with smooth colony morphology, also known as Mycobacterium canetti and/or Mycobacterium prototuberculosis, obtained from humans with tuberculosis from geographically diverse regions. Their comparative genomic analysis with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other M. tuberculosis complex members identifies extensive recombination and provides insights into the evolution of mycobacteria. The authors also report that tubercle bacilli with smooth colony morphology show reduced persistence and virulence compared to M. tuberculosis strains in infection experiments in mice.
Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Thomas O'Brien and colleagues report the discovery of a new gene, INFL4, encoding interferon-λ4, that is upstream of INFL3 (IL28B). A compound dinucleotide frameshift genetic variant in INFL4 creates the full-length INFL4 protein and is more strongly associated with hepatitis C virus clearance in individuals of African ancestry than rs12979860, a known variant associated with clearance.