title: Oxygenated mycolic acids are necessary for virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mice.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Research Institute, 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dubnau
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raynaud
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lanéelle
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quémard
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daffé
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D009171:Mycolic Acids; D002635:Chenodeoxycholic Acid; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D005990:Glycerol