Spatiotemporal dynamics of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Oman

Spatiotemporal dynamics of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Oman | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Spatiotemporal dynamics of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Oman Reham Ahmed Hashim, Abeer Al Zubaidi, Fatma Al Ghafri, Amina Al-Jardani, and 12 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7400763/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) remains endemic in Oman, with incidence exceeding 5 per 10⁵ population since 2016 and a rising proportion of cases among expatriates (>40% of the population). This study investigated the spatiotemporal diversity and structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in Oman between 2008–2022. A total of 735 MTB isolates from nationals and expatriates across provinces were genotyped by spoligotyping and 17-locus MIRU-VNTR; 96 underwent whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity, h) and differentiation (FST) were estimated, and phylogenetic analyses performed. Four major lineages and seven sub-lineages were identified, with similar distributions between nationals and expatriates but temporal variation in spoligotype clades. MIRU-VNTR showed high allelic diversity, with most dominant alleles (76.5%) stable over time, though 32.5% fluctuated. FST values (<0.05) indicated minimal temporal or local differentiation, except for slightly higher values between Dhofar and other regions. WGS revealed close genetic relatedness between Omani and expatriate isolates and strains from expatriates’ countries of origin, suggesting recent cross-border transmission. MTB in Oman exhibits high genetic diversity with a stable spatiotemporal structure. Shared lineages between nationals and expatriates underscore the role of migration, supporting the need for integrated genomic surveillance. Biological sciences/Evolution Biological sciences/Genetics Biological sciences/Microbiology Mycobacterium tuberculosis Oman TB MIRU-VNTR genetic diversity Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Suplementarytable1.xlsx Supplementarytable2.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 28 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 21 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 12 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 18 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 03 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 25 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 25 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7400763","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":521689968,"identity":"0fa8b475-7c84-4a57-8ed7-1536c069295d","order_by":0,"name":"Reham Ahmed Hashim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sultan Qaboos University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Reham","middleName":"Ahmed","lastName":"Hashim","suffix":""},{"id":521689969,"identity":"e1859b69-ec16-4241-b42b-a305ab4001ab","order_by":1,"name":"Abeer Al Zubaidi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sultan Qaboos University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abeer","middleName":"Al","lastName":"Zubaidi","suffix":""},{"id":521689970,"identity":"9f4e5442-492a-47b2-922e-ea876a108631","order_by":2,"name":"Fatma Al Ghafri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sultan Qaboos University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fatma","middleName":"Al","lastName":"Ghafri","suffix":""},{"id":521689971,"identity":"4f32b70a-67ea-4fdf-8fe3-ba0e99195c94","order_by":3,"name":"Amina Al-Jardani","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Central Public Health Laboratories, MOH","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Amina","middleName":"","lastName":"Al-Jardani","suffix":""},{"id":521689973,"identity":"5551694a-ca4a-47a0-99d1-5d671dd4c4ba","order_by":4,"name":"Saleh Al-Azri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Central Public Health Laboratories, MOH","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Saleh","middleName":"","lastName":"Al-Azri","suffix":""},{"id":521689976,"identity":"3fb9326e-78ef-40c6-abe7-ece454e055a9","order_by":5,"name":"Fatma Al Yagoubi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"MOH","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fatma","middleName":"Al","lastName":"Yagoubi","suffix":""},{"id":521689978,"identity":"5980f742-2734-4a96-9ce1-044b6bf90924","order_by":6,"name":"Abdullah A. 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