Abstract
We developed a rapid method to screen the efficacy of antimicrobial agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A restriction fragment carrying a promoterless firefly luciferase gene was cloned into a 4,488-bp shuttle vector, pMV261, and luciferase was expressed under the control of a mycobacterial heat shock promoter. The resulting plasmid, pLUC10, was introduced by electroporation into the avirulent strain M. tuberculosis H37Ra. Luciferase assays of sonic lysates of Triton X-100-treated cells of M. tuberculosis H37Ra(pLUC10) yielded bioluminescence in excess of 1,000 relative light units/~109 tubercle bacilli, compared with 0.0025 for the same number of parental cells. A 48-h microdilution antimicrobial agent- screening assay using this strain was developed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1348-1352 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1993 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmacology
- Pharmacology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases