Detection of mRNA transcripts and active transcription in persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis induced by exposure to rifampin or pyrazinamide.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis can persist in an altered physiological state for many years after initial infection, and it may reactivate to cause active disease. An analogous persistent state, possibly consisting of several different subpopulations of bacteria, may arise during chemotherapy; this state is thought to be responsible for the prolonged period required for effective chemotherapy. Using two models of drug-induced persistence, we show that both microaerophilic stationary-phase M. tuberculosis treated with a high dose of rifampin in vitro and pyrazinamide-induced persistent bacteria in mice are nonculturable yet still contain 16S rRNA and mRNA transcripts. Also, the in vitro persistent, plate culture-negative bacteria incorporate radioactive uridine into their RNA in the presence of

SUBMITTER: Hu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC94781 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature