Genetic analysis of Mycobacterium abscessus reveals genomic diversity linked to global plasmid distribution

Genetic epidemiological analysis of mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids, has rarely been carried out in <i>Mycobacterium abscessus,</i> regardless of its usefulness in speculating the historical contact between bacteria. In this study, through whole genome sequencing analysis of <i>M. abscessus</i> isolated from the same patient, we identified three plasmids (pMAB625-1, pMAB625-2, and pMAB625-3) that were not found in the type strain ATCC 19977. We conducted an <i>in silico</i> analysis to investigate the distribution of previously identified plasmids, including the pMAB625 plasmids, in <i>M. abscessus</i> isolated from 462 clinical specimens worldwide. pMAB625-3 was the most prevalent plasmid, detected in 11.5% (53/462) of isolates. Furthermore, phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that these plasmids transferred beyond regions and subspecies and acquired unique mutations. These results indicate that the transmission of plasmids increases the genomic diversity in <i>M. abscessus,</i> and plasmid epidemiology is useful for estimating the historical contact between bacteria.