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Infection and Immunity, August 2003, p. 4684-4690, Vol. 71, No. 8
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.8.4684-4690.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Sulfolipid Deficiency Does Not Affect the Virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv in Mice and Guinea Pigs

Cécile Rousseau,1 Oliver C. Turner,2 Erik Rush,2 Yann Bordat,1 Tatiana D. Sirakova,3 Pappachan E. Kolattukudy,3 Shannon Ritter,4 Ian M. Orme,2 Brigitte Gicquel,1 and Mary Jackson1*

Unité de Génétique Mycobactérienne, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France,1 Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Department of Microbiology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523,2 Biomolecular Science Center, Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816-2360,3 The Vermont Country Store, Manchester Center, Vermont4

Received 10 February 2003/ Returned for modification 3 April 2003/ Accepted 14 May 2003

Lipids that are found only in the cell envelope of pathogenic mycobacteria, such as those containing multiple methyl-branched fatty acids, have long been thought to play a role in pathogenesis. Among these complex lipids, sulfolipids have been the most extensively studied over the last 50 years. The numerous biological effects exhibited by purified sulfolipids on phagocytic cells led to the idea that these molecules are probably important virulence factors facilitating the intracellular survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, definitive evidence to support this concept has been lacking. The recent construction of an isogenic sulfolipid-deficient mutant of M. tuberculosis H37Rv (Sirakova et al., J. Biol. Chem. 276:16833-16839, 2001) has for the first time provided the opportunity to directly assess the contribution of these complex lipids to pathogenesis. In the present study, we show that against all expectations, sulfolipid deficiency does not significantly affect the replication, persistence, and pathogenicity of M. tuberculosis H37Rv in mice and guinea pigs or in cultured macrophages.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité de Génétique Mycobactérienne, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. Phone: 33 1 45 68 88 77. Fax.: 33 1 45 68 88 43. E-mail: mjackson{at}pasteur.fr.

Editor: S. H. E. Kaufmann

Infection and Immunity, August 2003, p. 4684-4690, Vol. 71, No. 8
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.8.4684-4690.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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