Cor, a novel carbon monoxide resistance gene, is essential for Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogenesis.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains a devastating human infectious disease, causing two million deaths annually. We previously demonstrated that M. tuberculosis induces an enzyme, heme oxygenase (HO1), that produces carbon monoxide (CO) gas and that M. tuberculosis adapts its transcriptome during CO exposure. We now demonstrate that M. tuberculosis carries a novel resistance gene to combat CO toxicity. We screened an M. tuberculosis transposon library for CO-susceptible mutants and found that disruption of Rv1829 (carbon monoxide resistance, Cor) leads to marked CO sensitivity. Heterologous expression of Cor in Escherichia coli rescued it from CO toxicity. Importantly, the virulence of the cor mutant is attenuated in a mouse model of tuberculosis.

SUBMITTER: Zacharia VM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3870250 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature