Open AccessHigh Throughput Phenotypic Selection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Mutants with Impaired Resistance to Reactive Oxygen Species Identifies Genes Important for Intracellular Growth
Author(s) -
Olga Mestre,
Raquel Hurtado-Ortiz,
Tiago Dos Vultos,
Amine Namouchi,
Mena Cimino,
Madalena Pimentel,
Olivier Neyrolles,
Brigitte Gicquel
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0053486
Subject(s) - mycobacterium tuberculosis , reactive oxygen species , intracellular , biology , mutant , phenotype , gene , intracellular parasite , tuberculosis , microbiology and biotechnology , cell envelope , transposable element , pathogen , genetics , medicine , pathology , escherichia coli
Mycobacterium tuberculosis has the remarkable capacity to survive within the hostile environment of the macrophage, and to resist potent antibacterial molecules such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, understanding mycobacterial resistance mechanisms against ROS may contribute to the development of new anti-tuberculosis therapies. Here we identified genes involved in such mechanisms by screening a high-density transposon mutant library, and we show that several of them are involved in the intracellular lifestyle of the pathogen. Many of these genes were found to play a part in cell envelope functions, further strengthening the important role of the mycobacterial cell envelope in protection against aggressions such as the ones caused by ROS inside host cells.