Open AccessRifampicin resistance and mutation of the rpoB gene in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Author(s) -
Taniguchi Hatsumi,
Aramaki Hironori,
Nikaido Yoshihiko,
Mizuguchi Yasuo,
Nakamura Masahiro,
Koga Toshihiko,
Yoshida Shinichi
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1996.tb08515.x
Subject(s) - rpob , rifampicin , mycobacterium tuberculosis , genetics , biology , mutation , microbiology and biotechnology , gene mutation , missense mutation , antibacterial agent , gene , gene cluster , tuberculosis , antibiotics , medicine , 16s ribosomal rna , pathology
Using 39 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains with a broad range of susceptibility to rifampicin, we examined the relationship between the degree of resistance to rifampicin and mutational sites of the rpoB gene. All rifampicin‐resistant strains had missense mutations. Twenty strains (95%) had a mutation in the cluster I region, which has also been reported in Escherichia coli [Jin and Gross (1988) J. Mol. Biol. 202, 45–58], and the remaining one strain had a mutation at codon 381 [Ala → Val]in the N‐terminal region, which has not been reported in E. coli. Among 18 rifampicin‐susceptible strains, two had a mutation in the cluster I region and the other three strains had a mutation in the cluster III region. The mutations at codons 513 (5%), 526 (33%) or 531 (43%) in the cluster I region led to high level resistance to rifampicin (50 μg ml −1 ≤ MIC). The mutations at the other sites, in the cluster III region (codons 679 or 687) and even in the cluster I region (codon 514, 521, or 533), showed low level (MIC = 12.5 μg ml −1 ) or no (MIC < 0.39 μg ml −1 ) resistance to rifampicin. These results suggest that mutations in the rpoB gene are, mostly, but not necessarily, associated with rifampicin resistance of M. tuberculosis , and the sites of mutations on the rpoB gene will affect the level of resistance to rifampicin.