Microscopic cords, a virulence-related characteristic of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are also present in nonpathogenic mycobacteria.

ABSTRACT: The aggregation of mycobacterial cells in a definite order, forming microscopic structures that resemble cords, is known as cord formation, or cording, and is considered a virulence factor in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and the species Mycobacterium marinum. In the 1950s, cording was related to a trehalose dimycolate lipid that, consequently, was named the cord factor. However, modern techniques of microbial genetics have revealed that cording can be affected by mutations in genes not directly involved in trehalose dimycolate biosynthesis. Therefore, questions such as "How does mycobacterial cord formation occur?" and "Which molecular factors play a role in cord formation?" remain unanswered. At present, one of the problems in cording studies is the correct interpretation of cor

SUBMITTER: Julian E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2838037 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature