title: Use of a recombinant strain of Mycobacterium avium expressing beta-galactosidase to evaluate the activities of antimycobacterial agents inside macrophages.
abstract: A reliable and low-cost method that enables rapid screening of the activity exerted by new antimicrobial agents on intracellularly growing Mycobacterium avium has been developed. To this aim, a recombinant (lacZ) strain of M. avium expressing the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase gene was used to evaluate, in murine macrophages, the susceptibility of M. avium to common antimycobacterial agents. beta-Galactosidase levels, measured in the presence of each of the antibiotics tested, were closely correlated with the number of CFU recovered from the M. avium lacZ strain-infected macrophages.
authors: Dipartimento di Patologia Sperimentale, Biotecnologie Mediche, Infettivologia ed Epidemiologia, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Maisetta
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Batoni
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Pardini
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Boschi
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Bottai
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Esin
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Campa
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Senesi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007763:Lac Operon; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009162:Mycobacterium avium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001616:beta-Galactosidase