Advances in the development of molecular genetic tools for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Chiranjibi Chhotaray; Yaoju Tan; Julius Mugweru; Md Mahmudul Islam; H M Adnan Hameed; Shuai Wang; Zhili Lu; Changwei Wang; Xinjie Li; Shouyong Tan; Jianxiong Liu; Tianyu Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2018.06.003

Advances in the development of molecular genetic tools for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

J Genet Genomics. 2018 Jun 18:S1673-8527(18)30114-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2018.06.003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Guangzhou Chest Hospital, Guangzhou 510095, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Embu, P.O Box 6 -60100, Embu, Kenya.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Guangzhou Chest Hospital, Guangzhou 510095, China. Electronic address: ljxer64@qq.com.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: zhang_tianyu@gibh.ac.cn.

PMID: 29941353
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2018.06.003

Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a clinically relevant Gram-positive bacterium of great clinical relevance, is a lethal pathogen owing to its complex physiological characteristics and development of drug resistance. Several molecular genetic tools have been developed in the past few decades to study this microorganism. These tools have been instrumental in understanding how M. tuberculosis became a successful pathogen. Advanced molecular genetic tools have played a significant role in exploring the complex pathways involved in M. tuberculosis pathogenesis. Here, we review various molecular genetic tools used in the study of M. tuberculosis. Further, we discuss the applications of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat interference (CRISPRi), a novel technology recently applied in M. tuberculosis research to study target gene functions. Finally, prospective outcomes of the applications of molecular techniques in the field of M. tuberculosis genetic research are also discussed.

Keywords: Drug resistance; Ggram-positive; Molecular genetic tools; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Recombineering.

Publication types

Review