Closed circles: M. tuberculosis carrying the plasmid pMV261 (empty vector control); squares: M. tuberculosis carrying the plasmid pMVOBG (plasmid overexpressing Obg). The data shown are representative findings from three different. experiments. Conclusion Our data reveal that M. tuberculosis Obg has characteristics that are common selleck chemicals to its homologues in other bacteria, in addition to properties that are unique. Generation and characterization of mutant alleles of M. tuberculosis Obg should provide additional insights to the

role of Obg in this important human pathogen, and toward identification of antimicrobials that reduce its ability to Wnt inhibitor promote M. tuberculosis survival. Methods Bacteria and yeast strains and their growth conditions M. tuberculosis H37Rv was grown either HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitor in Middlebrook 7H9 broth medium containing Tween (0.05%) and OADC (10%) (7H9-TW-OADC) broth, or in Middlebrook 7H10 agar medium containing Tween (0.05%) and OADC (10%) (7H10-TW-OADC). M.

tuberculosis strains harboring plasmids were grown in the above media containing the antibiotic kanamycin (25 μg/ml) or hygromycin (50 μg/ml). E. coli strains containing plasmids were grown in LB broth or LB agar plates with the antibiotic(s) ampicillin (100 μg/ml), kanamycin (25 μg/ml) or both. Unless specified, all bacteria were grown at 37°C. The yeast strain AH109 was grown at 30°C in YPD broth or in agar supplemented with adenine hemisulphate (0.003%). DNA manipulation Chromosomal DNA of M. tuberculosis H37Rv was isolated using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). Plasmid DNA from E. coli was isolated using Qiaprep kit (Qiagen Inc.). PCR reactions were performed as described by Ausubel et al [45], with genomic DNA of M. tuberculosis H37Rv used as the template for amplifying coding regions of its genes. Oligonucleotide

primers (Table 2) were synthesized at the Center for DNA Technology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Interleukin-2 receptor Table 2 List of primers used in this study. Primer name Primer sequence Gene TBOBG1 CCGCATATGAAGGGGAGCTCGGTGCCT CGG Obg TBOBG2 CGTCCGGATCCGGACTTCTCATCAGCCATCCCC Obg TBOBG5 CCGCAGGATCCGCACACTCCGCAGATGAAGGGGAGCTCGGTG Obg TBOBG6 ATGAAGGGATCCTCGGTGCCTCGGTTTGTCGATCGGGTC Obg TBRELAF ACGCATATGGCCGAGGACCAGCAGCTCACGGCGCAAGCG RelA TBRELAR ATGGGATCCTGCGTCTGCTCGGCGGAGAAAAGCGCG RelA Underlined nucleotides indicate the restriction sites created in the primers. CATATG, NdeI and GGATCC, BamHI. To generate an Obg overexpression construct, we amplified the whole gene coding for Obg of M. tuberculosis by PCR with primers TBOBG1 and TBOBG2. These primers were designed to have an NdeI site at the 5′nd (TBOBG1) and a BamHI site at the 3′nd (TBOBG2). The DNA fragment obtained was cut with NdeI and BamHI and ligated to a similarly cut pET16b vector to create the plasmid pTBOBGE. In addition, we created several other plasmids to express Obg or other proteins in mycobacteria or yeast.