RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Use of Whole-Genome Sequencing for Detection of Antimicrobial Resistance: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a Model Organism JF American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science JO Clin Lab Sci FD American Society of Chemistry and Laboratory Science SP 85 OP 92 DO 10.29074/ascls.2019001784 VO 32 IS 2 A1 Escuyer, Vincent YR 2019 UL http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/32/2/85.abstract AB Increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance are a public health crisis. The emergence of resistant pathogens is multifactorial but is at least partially due to inappropriate antibiotic utilization and lack of stewardship interventions. Effective stewardship programs require timely antimicrobial resistance testing. This can be challenging for pathogens that grow slowly or not at all in culture. Next-generation sequencing approaches, such as whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of isolate, offer a more rapid alternative for such pathogens. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) is a model organism for WGS to predict susceptibility due to its highly conserved and stable genome, extremely slow growth in culture, and increasing resistance rates to a limited armamentarium of anti-TB drugs. Studies have shown excellent concordance between conventional phenotypic susceptibility testing and use of WGS to predict susceptibility to at least 2 first-line anti-TB agents, rifampin and isoniazid. More data are needed for other agents, including a more comprehensive curated database of mutations paired with phenotypic data, before WGS can completely replace phenotypic testing.