Sequence heterogeneity of an mpb70 gene analogue in Mycobacterium kansasii

Woolford, A. J., Hewinson, R. G., Woodward, M. and Dale, J. W. (1997) Sequence heterogeneity of an mpb70 gene analogue in Mycobacterium kansasii. Fems Microbiology Letters, 148 (1). pp. 43-48. ISSN 0378-1097 doi: 10.1016/s0378-1097(97)00010-4

Abstract/Summary

The protein antigen MPB70 is a major component of culture supernatants of Mycobacterium bovis and Is an active ingredient of bovine PPD used for skin-testing cattle for tuberculosis. we have shown that Mycobacterium kansasii possesses a similar gene that cross-reacts in a PCR test for M. bovis. Single strand conformational polymorphism analysis, and the DNA sequence of the PCR product, shows differences between M. kansasii strains, supporting the suggestion that M. kansasii is not a homogeneous species.