The innate immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis is dependent on strain lineage and on host population

The genome structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is strongly clonal, in the absence of horizontal gene transfer. Thus it is feasible that clonal lineages may exhibit particular phenotypic characteristics, which may, in turn, result in differences in virulence or influence their association with particular host populations. Indeed, the global distribution of M. tuberculosis strains is not uniform and certain strain lineages predominate in particular geographical areas. Further, there is evidence that some strain lineages are emerging, suggesting differences in virulence. Firstly, we investigated the association between strain genotype of M. tuberculosis and in vitro correlates of virulence such as growth phenotype and cytokine induction in the monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM) model.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Division of Medical Microbiology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Sarkar, Rajesh

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Nicol, Mark
• Wilkinson, R J

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/2719

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/2719