Oxygenated mycolic acids are necessary for virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mice.
Members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis group synthesize a family of long-chain fatty acids, mycolic acids, which are located in the cell envelope. These include the non-oxygenated alpha-mycolic acid and the oxygenated keto- and methoxymycolic acids. The function in bacterial virulence, if any, of these various types of mycolic acids is unknown. We have constructed a mutant strain of M. tuberculosis with an inactivated hma (cmaA, mma4) gene; this mutant strain no longer synthesizes oxygenated mycolic acids, has profound alterations in its envelope permeability and is attenuated in mice.
Dubnau
E
E
Public Health Research Institute, 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Chan
J
J
Raynaud
C
C
Mohan
V P
VP
Lanéelle
M A
MA
Yu
K
K
Quémard
A
A
Smith
I
I
Daffé
M
M
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D002635:Chenodeoxycholic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005990:Glycerol / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009000:Monocytes; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D009171:Mycolic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014774:Virulence
D009171:Mycolic Acids; D002635:Chenodeoxycholic Acid; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D005990:Glycerol