Complex pattern of Mycobacterium marinum gene expression during long-term granulomatous infection.

ABSTRACT: During latent infection of humans with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, bacteria persist in the asymptomatic host within granulomas, organized collections of differentiated macrophages, and other immune cells. The mechanisms for persistence remain poorly understood, as is the metabolic and replicative state of the microbes within granulomas. We analyzed the gene expression profile of Mycobacterium marinum, the cause of fish and amphibian tuberculosis, during its persistence in granulomas. We identified genes expressed specifically when M. marinum persists within granulomas. These granuloma-activated genes were not activated in vitro in response to various conditions postulated to be operant in tuberculous granulomas, suggesting that their granuloma-specific activation was caused by complex cond

SUBMITTER: Chan K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC122624 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature