JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Forbes, K. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Forbes, K. J.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 2001, p. 5279-5284, Vol. 183, No. 18
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.18.5279-5284.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Molecular Evidence for Independent Occurrence of IS6110 Insertions at the Same Sites of the Genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Different Clinical Isolates

Z. Fang,1,* D. T. Kenna,2 C. Doig,3 D. N. Smittipat,4 P. Palittapongarnpim,4 B. Watt,3 and K. J. Forbes2

Public Health Laboratory Services Mycobacteria Reference Unit and Department of Infection, Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' School of Medicine, London,1 Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen,2 and Scottish Mycobacteria Reference Laboratory, The City Hospital, Edinburgh,3 United Kingdom, and Department of Microbiology, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand4

Received 2 August 2000/Accepted 15 June 2001

Several characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (e.g., conserved genome and low growth rate) have severely restricted the study of the microorganism. The discovery of IS6110 raised hopes of overcoming these obstacles. However, our knowledge of this IS element is relatively limited; even its two basic characteristics (transposition mechanism and target site selection) are far from well understood. In this study, IS6110 insertions in ipl loci (iplA and iplB) in two collections of clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis from different geographic locations, one from Scotland and the other from Thailand, were investigated. Five different IS6110 insertions in the loci were identified: ipl-4::IS6110, ipl-5::IS6110, ipl-11::IS6110, ipl-12::IS6110, and ipl-13::IS6110. An attempt to establish the phylogenetic relationship of the isolates containing these insertions was unsuccessful, suggesting that some of these insertions may have arisen from more than one event. This possibility is further supported by the observation that IS6110 copies existed in the same site but with different orientations in different isolates, and the insertion site of ipl-1::IS6110 harbored IS6110 copies in both iplA and iplB in different strains. All these suggest the independent occurrence of IS6110 insertions at the same sites of the genome of M. tuberculosis in different clinical isolates. The implications of this finding are discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Public Health Laboratory Services Mycobacteria Reference Unit and Department of Infection, Guy's, King's & St. Thomas' School of Medicine, London SE22 8QF, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 20 8693 1312. Fax: 44 20 7346 6477. E-mail: z.fang{at}hgmp.mrc.ac.uk.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 2001, p. 5279-5284, Vol. 183, No. 18
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.18.5279-5284.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Infect. Immun. Eukaryot. Cell
Mol. Cell. Biol. J. Virol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.