Does the lipR gene of tubercle bacilli have a role in tuberculosis transmission and pathogenesis?

• Published in: Tuberculosis (Edinburgh, Scotland) Vol. 89; no. 2; pp. 114 - 119
• Main Authors: Sheline, Katherine D, France, Anne M, Talarico, Sarah, Foxman, Betsy, Zhang, Lixin, Marrs, Carl F, Bates, Joseph H, Cave, M. Donald, Yang, Zhenhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Scotland Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2009
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Arkansas - epidemiology; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Child; Child, Preschool; Chromosome Mapping; Cluster Analysis; Esterases - genetics; Female; Genes, Bacterial; Genotype; Humans; Hydrolases - genetics; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infectious Disease; Large sequence polymorphisms; lipR; Male; Middle Aged; Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - enzymology; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - genetics; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - pathogenicity; Polymorphism, Genetic; Pulmonary/Respiratory; Tuberculosis - epidemiology; Tuberculosis - microbiology; Tuberculosis - transmission; Tuberculosis transmission and pathogenesis; Virulence - genetics; Young Adult; Arkansas; Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis; lipR; Tuberculosis transmission and pathogenesis; Large sequence polymorphisms
• ISSN: 1472-9792; 1873-281X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2008.09.004

Summary Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipases, a diverse class of enzymes involved in lipid metabolism, may have an important role in tuberculosis (TB) pathogenesis. We explored the association of large sequence polymorphism (LSP) in one of the M. tuberculosis lipase-encoding genes, lipR ( Rv3084 ), with patient characteristics using a population-based sample of clinical isolates to elucidate the potential role of lipR in TB pathogenesis. LSP in lipR was found in 104 (15.6%) of 665 isolates, of which 96% belonged to principal genetic group 3. When linkage by molecular type and epidemiologic evidence were compared, molecularly clustered cases infected with a lipR LSP isolate were more often epidemiologically linked than clustered cases infected with a lipR wild-type isolate. Further epidemiologic and functional studies are necessary to determine if the association between this lipR LSP and recent transmission we identified in this population reflects a functional role of lipR in TB transmission and pathogenesis or other unidentified mechanisms.