<i>Mycobacterium abscessus</i> research: learning from challenges

<i>Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab),</i> a rapidly growing mycobacterial species with intrinsic and acquired resistance to multiple antibiotics, is an emerging public health concern. The rise in clinical cases of treatment-refractory infections of <i>M. abscessus</i> has propelled its research toward novel therapeutic approaches. The number of publications entitled "<i>Mycobacterium abscessus"</i> has increased by ~300% over the last decade, of which the majority of studies exploring the fundamental biology and pathogenesis of Mab have used the reference strain ATCC19977. However, whole-genome sequence analyses, combined with transposon-seq based functional genomics, reveal an open pan-genome with significant variations in the essential genes across ATCC19977 and clinical isolates. These new discoveries demand a careful selection of strains and growth conditions in experimental design. In this minireview, we discuss these challenges and propose a framework for future <i>M. abscessus</i> studies <i>in silico</i>, including a new web-based resource for pangenome analysis, <i>in vitro,</i> and in animal models.