Disruption of the mycobacterial cell entry gene of Mycobacterium bovis BCG results in a mutant that exhibits a reduced invasiveness for epithelial cells.
Mycobacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex have the ability to invade and replicate in non-phagocytic cells, an event that requires the presence of bacterial surface components capable of triggering a cell response and the subsequent internalization of the microorganism. In this study, we report the sequencing of the mycobacterial cell entry gene (mce) of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and the generation and characterization of a mutant BCG strain with an inactivated mce gene, by homologous recombination with double cross-over. This mutant strain does not express the mycobacterial cell entry protein (Mce) and exhibits a reduced ability to invade the non-phagocytic epithelial cell line HeLa as compared to wild-type BCG.
Flesselles
B
B
Pasteur Mérieux Connaught Canada Research Centre, Toronto, Ont., Canada.
Anand
N N
NN
Remani
J
J
Loosmore
S M
SM
Klein
M H
MH
D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009154:Mutation; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA