title: The many roads to essential genes.
abstract: Antibiotics target functions that are required for bacterial growth and survival. As genetic tools for studying Mycobacterium tuberculosis continue to improve we are increasingly able to identify genes that encode these important effectors. Here we review the strategies that have been used to identify and validate essential genes in mycobacteria and look forward to possible future advances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, 200 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Jun-Rong
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Rubin