title: Molecular definition of unique species status of Mycobacterium w; a candidate leprosy vaccine strain.
abstract: Mycobacterium w, a candidate leprosy vaccine strain, is an atypical cultivable mycobacterium. Based on its growth and metabolic properties, M. w was listed in Runyon Group IV, along with other rapid growers such as M. fortuitum, M. smegmatis, M. chelonae and M. vaccae. However, M. w was not fully identical to any one of these. In the present study, a molecular biology approach was used to define the species identity of M. w in a manner that allows reliable comparison to be made with over 30 known mycobacterial species. A 383-bp region, present at the amino terminus of the conserved mycobacterial 65-kDa gene, has been polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified in M. w and DNA sequence was determined. A comparison of the M. w DNA sequence with those of M. tuberculosis, M. avium, M. paratuberculosis and M. fortuitum revealed a species-specific polymorphism, i.e., the presence of nucleotide substitutions unique to M. w. In an alternate approach, a 441-bp region, also a part of the 65-kDa gene, has been PCR amplified in M. w and a Hae III restriction pattern was generated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Reddi
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Khandekar
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Talwar
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C060596:anti-leprosy vaccine