Premium
Contribution of L ‐Alanine Dehydrogenase to In Vivo Persistence and Protective Efficacy of the BCG Vaccine
Author(s) -
Scandurra Gabriella M.,
Ryan Anthony A.,
Pinto Rachel,
Britton Warwick J.,
Triccas James A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2006.tb03856.x
Subject(s) - biology , in vivo , persistence (discontinuity) , microbiology and biotechnology , vaccine efficacy , immunology , vaccination , geotechnical engineering , engineering
The tuberculosis (TB) vaccine strain Mycobacterium bovis BCG is unable to utilise alanine and this deficiency is thought to inhibit the growth of the vaccine in vivo and limit vaccine efficacy. In this report we demonstrate that L ‐alanine catabolism can be conferred on BCG by introduction of the gene encoding L ‐alanine dehydrogenase (Ald) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Restoration of Ald activity did not change the in vivo growth of BCG in macrophages or mice, and protection against aerosol M. tuberculosis infection was not altered by addition of ald to the BCG vaccine. These results demonstrate that the inability to utilise L‐alanine is not a contributing factor to the attenuated phenotype of BCG and does not influence the protective efficacy of the vaccine against TB.