title: Construction of a bioluminescence reporter plasmid for Francisella tularensis.
abstract: A Francisella tularensis shuttle vector that constitutively expresses the Photorhabdus luminescens lux operon in type A and type B strains of F. tularensis was constructed. The bioluminescence reporter plasmid was introduced into the live vaccine strain of F. tularensis and used to follow F. tularensis growth in a murine intranasal challenge model in real-time by bioluminescence imaging. The results show that the new bioluminescence reporter plasmid represents a useful tool for tularemia research that is suitable for following F. tularensis growth in both in vitro and in vivo model systems.
authors.affiliation: The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Molecular Sciences, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaowen R
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Bina
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bina
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005604:Francisella tularensis / Q000235:genetics*; D017930:Genes, Reporter / Q000235:genetics*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020637:Photorhabdus / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014406:Tularemia / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D011994:Recombinant Proteins