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AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorsMarcel Behr, Peter Small, Gary Schoolnik, Michael A. Wilson
Estimating the term…
Specific genetic deletion are identified in mycobacteria isolates, including variations in the M. tuberculosis genome sequence between isolates, and numerous deletion present in BCG as compared to M. tb. These deletions are used as markers to distinguish between pathogenic and avirulent strains, and as a marker for particular M. tb isolates. Deletions specific to vaccine strains of BCG are useful in determining whether a positive tuberculin skin test is indicative of actual tuberculosis infection. The deleted sequences may be re-introduced into BCG to improve the efficacy of vaccination. Alternatively, the genetic sequence that corresponds to the deletion(s) are deleted from M. bovis or M. tuberculosis to attenuate the pathogenic bacteria.
A nucleic acid comprising a junction of a deletion marker in Table 1.
A genetically altered mycobacterium, comprising an exogenous nucleic acid sequence comprising one or more deletion markers as set forth in Table 1.
A genetically altered mycobacterium, comprising a deletion resulting from homologous recombination in a deletion marker as set forth in Table 1.
A method of distinguishing whether a patient has been exposed to BCG or to M. tuberculosis, the method comprising:
A method of distinguishing a bacterial strain of the M. tuberculosis complex, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.