The members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) causing human tuberculosis comprise 10 phylogenetic lineages that differ in their geographical distribution. The human consequences of this phylogenetic diversity remain poorly understood. Here, we assessed the phenotypic properties at the host-pathogen interface of 14 clinical strains representing five major MTBC lineages. Using a human in vitro granuloma model combined with bacterial load assessment, microscopy, flow cytometry, and multiplexed-bead arrays, we observed considerable intra-lineage diversity. Yet, modern lineages were overall associated with increased growth rate and more pronounced granulomatous responses. MTBC lineages exhibited distinct propensities to accumulate triglyceride lipid droplets—a phenotype associated with dormancy—that was particularly pronounced in lineage 2 and reduced in lineage 3 strains. The most favorable granuloma responses were associated with strong CD4 and CD8 T cell activation as well as inflammatory responses mediated by CXCL9, granzyme B, and TNF. Both of which showed consistent negative correlation with bacterial proliferation across genetically distant MTBC strains of different lineages. Taken together, our data indicate that different virulence strategies and protective immune traits associate with MTBC genetic diversity at lineage and strain level.

The model Gram-negative plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae utilises hundreds of transcription factors (TFs) to regulate its functional processes, including virulence and metabolic pathways that control its ability to infect host plants. Although the molecular mechanisms of regulators have been studied for decades, a comprehensive understanding of genome-wide TFs in Psph 1448A remains limited. Here, we investigated the binding characteristics of 170 of 301 annotated TFs through chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq). Fifty-four TFs, 62 TFs, and 147 TFs were identified in top-level, middle-level, and bottom-level, reflecting multiple higher-order network structures and direction of information flow. More than 40,000 TF pairs were classified into 13 three-node submodules which revealed the regulatory diversity of TFs in Psph 1448A regulatory network. We found that bottom-level TFs performed high co-associated scores to their target genes. Functional categories of TFs at three levels encompassed various regulatory pathways. Three and 25 master TFs were identified to involve in virulence and metabolic regulation, respectively. Evolutionary analysis and topological modularity network revealed functional variability and various conservation of TFs in P. syringae (Psph 1448A, Pst DC3000, Pss B728a, and Psa C48). Overall, our findings demonstrated a global transcriptional regulatory network of genome-wide TFs in Psph 1448A. This knowledge can advance the development of effective treatment and prevention strategies for related infectious diseases.