title: In vitro analysis of rates and spectra of mutations in a polymorphic region of the Rv0746 PE_PGRS gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: An assay modeled on a known polymorphism in the PE_PGRS9 gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was designed to assess the mutability of a sequence containing interspersed PGRS repeats. Application of the assay in Mycobacterium smegmatis revealed sequence plasticity: in addition to recapitulating the mutation on which it was based, other mutations likely mediated by replication slippage between PGRS repeats were detected. However, the mutation rates argued against marked hypermutability of such sequences in mycobacteria.
authors.affiliation: MRC/NHLS/WITS Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa. edith.machowski@nhls.ac.za
authors.forename: Edith E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Machowski
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barichievy
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Springer
authors.forename: Steven I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Durbach
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mizrahi
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D005838:Genotype; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C440642:PE-PGRS protein, Mycobacterium