eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Microbiological Research 2328-4137 2025-05-19 13 2 33 37 10.12691/ajmr-13-2-3 AJMR20251323 article Amon Aby Christiane abychristiane@gmail.com 1 Coulibaly Kpanhonri Eve Christelle 2 Dehe Bahou Roger 2 Yavo Konan Albert 2 Kouakou Luc Venance 3 Coulibaly Gninw¨¦l¨¦ Anne-Edwige 3 3 Kakou N¡¯Gazoa Solange 3 Tian-Bi Yves-Nathan 3 Coulibaly N'Golo David 3 Molecular Biology Platform, Pasteur Institute of C?te d¡¯Ivoire, BP 490 Abidjan, Abidjan C?te d¡¯Ivoire UFR Biosciences, Laboratory of Biology and Health, F¨¦lix Houphouet Boigny-university, Abidjan C?te d¡¯Ivoire Department of epidemiological viruses, Pasteur Institute of C?te d¡¯Ivoire, BP 490 Abidjan, Abidjan C?te d¡¯Ivoire Leprosy is a disease caused mainly by Mycobacterium leprae. The mode of transmission has yet to be elucidated. In order to understand its etiology, Mycobacterium leprae was genotyped into 4 types and 16 subtypes using molecular biology techniques. The overall aim of this study was to identify the subtypes of genotype 4 identified in clinical strains of M. leprae in leprosy patients in Côte d'Ivoire, using Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) genetic markers. The biological material used consisted of dermal juices and nasal mucus collected from 40 patients clinically diagnosed with leprosy at the Institut Raoul Follereau of Côte d'Ivoire (IRFCI). Conventional PCR amplification revealed a high rate of positive M. leprae detection, i.e. 77.5% (62 /80). 5% (4 /80) of the strains identified had all three types of mutation (insertion, deletion and HPT). However, only one strain identified subtype O, characterized by the insertion of a T base at position Ins: 978589 and by the presence of a T base at position Del: 1476519. Subtype O of the identified M. leprae genotype 4 is thought to circulate in Côte d'Ivoire. https://pubs.sciepub.com/ajmr/13/2/3/ajmr-13-2-3.pdf Mycobacterium leprae PCR SNP marker Subtype O C?te d¡¯Ivoire