Patterns of compensatory mutations in rpoA/B/C genes of multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis in Uganda.

ABSTRACT: Mutations in rpoB, a gene that encodes the bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) beta-subunit, can cause high-level resistance to rifampicin. Approximately 95% of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates harbour mutations in an 81-base pair rpoB region referred to as the rifampicin-resistance-determining region (rpoB/RRDR). Also, rifampicin-resistant M. tuberculosis clinical isolates carry multiple mutations in RNAP genes (i.e., rpoA, rpoB, rpoC, rpoD), particularly rpoA and rpoC, which encode the alpha- (α2) and beta'- (β') subunits, respectively. Such secondary mutations offset the fitness cost associated with acquisition of rifampicin-resistance mutations in M. tuberculosis, resulting in resistant strains that are as fit as the wild-type drug-susceptible strains. To a

SUBMITTER: Kateete DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12677784 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature