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Infection and Immunity, November 1998, p. 5099-5106, Vol. 66, No. 11
Department of Molecular Microbiology and
Immunology1 and
Division of Infectious
Diseases,2 Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
Received 10 March 1998/Returned for modification 4 May
1998/Accepted 12 August 1998
The genetic basis of isoniazid (INH) resistance remains unknown for
a significant proportion of clinical isolates. To identify genes which
might confer resistance by detoxifying or sequestering INH, we
transformed the Escherichia coli oxyR mutant, which is relatively sensitive to INH, with a Mycobacterium
tuberculosis plasmid library and selected for INH-resistant
clones. Three genes were identified and called ceo for
their ability to complement the Escherichia coli oxyR
mutant. ceoA was the previously identified M. tuberculosis glf gene, which encodes a 399-amino-acid
NAD+- and flavin adenine dinucleotide-requiring enzyme
responsible for catalyzing the conversion of UDP-galactopyranose to
UDP-galactofuranose. The proteins encoded by the ceoBC pair
were homologous with one another and with the N terminus of the
potassium uptake regulatory protein TrkA. Each of the three Ceo
proteins contains a motif common to NAD+ binding pockets.
Overexpression of the M. tuberculosis glf gene by placing
it under the control of the hsp60 promoter on a multicopy plasmid in Mycobacterium bovis BCG produced a strain for
which the INH MIC was increased 50% compared to that for the control strains, while similar overexpression of the ceoBC pair had
no effect on INH susceptibility in BCG. Mycobacterial extracts
containing the overexpressed Glf protein did not bind radiolabeled INH
directly, suggesting a more complex mechanism than the binding of
unmodified INH. Our results support the hypothesis that upregulated
mycobacterial proteins such as Glf may contribute to INH resistance in
M. tuberculosis by binding a modified form of INH or by
sequestering a factor such as NAD+ required for INH
activity.
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Novel Selection for Isoniazid (INH) Resistance
Genes Supports a Role for NAD+-Binding Proteins in
Mycobacterial INH Resistance
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205. Phone: (410)
955-3507. Fax: (410) 614-8173. E-mail: wbishai{at}jhsph.edu.
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