Genetic Systems for Mycobacteria

William R. Jacobs, Ganjam V. Kalpana, Jeffrey D. Cirillo, Lisa Pascopella, Scott B. Snapper, Rupa A. Udani, Wilbur Jones, Raúl G. Barletta, Barry R. Bloom

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

369 Scopus citations

Abstract

This chapter discusses genetic systems for mycobacteria. The ability to perform genetic analyses on bacteria has provided powerful tools and experimental systems to unravel fundamental biological processes. The advances of recombinant DNA technologies have ignited the development of genetic systems for bacteria that are difficult to work with. The genus Mycobacterium contains a set of the most difficult bacterial species to manipulate experimentally. The tuberculosis vaccine strain, bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) has been used to vaccinate more individuals than any other live bacterial vaccine, yet little is known about mycobacterial gene structure and expression. The recent development of phage, plasmid, and gene replacement systems for the introduction of recombinant DNA into mycobacteria has opened up a new era of research on members of the genus Mycobacterium.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)537-555
Number of pages19
JournalMethods in enzymology
Volume204
Issue numberC
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1991
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology

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