Rifampin resistance in Mycobacterium kansasii is associated with rpoB mutations.

ABSTRACT: Rifampin is the most potent drug used in the treatment of disease due to Mycobacterium kansasii. A 69-bp fragment of rpoB, the gene that encodes the beta subunit of the bacterial RNA polymerase, was sequenced and found to be identical in five rifampin-susceptible clinical isolates of M. kansasii. This sequence showed 87% homology with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene, with an identical deduced amino acid sequence. In contrast, missense mutations were detected in the same fragment amplified from five rifampin-resistant isolates. A rifampin-resistant strain generated in vitro also harbored an rpoB gene missense mutation that was not present in the parent isolate. All mutations detected (in codons 513, 526, and 531) have previously been described in rifampin-resistant M. tuberculosis isola

SUBMITTER: Klein JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC90781 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature