Mycobacterium tuberculosis persistence mutants identified by screening in isoniazid-treated mice.

ABSTRACT: Tuberculosis (TB) is notoriously difficult to cure, requiring administration of multiple antibiotics for 6 mo or longer. Conventional anti-TB drugs inhibit biosynthetic processes involved in cell growth and division, such as DNA replication, RNA transcription, protein translation, and cell wall biogenesis. Although highly effective against bacteria cultured in vitro under optimal growth conditions, these antibiotics are less effective against bacteria grown in vivo in the tissues of a mammalian host. The factors that contribute to the antibiotic tolerance of bacteria grown in vivo are unknown, although altered metabolism and sluggish growth are hypothesized to play a role. To address this question, we identified mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis that impaired or enhanced persistence

SUBMITTER: Dhar N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2901468 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature