Purpose
The pathogenicity of various lineages of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(MTB) is different. This could be due to the difference in survival ability within the host macrophage. The alpha crystalline secretion protein, a product of the
hspx
gene, is one of the bacterial protection factors in these stressful situations. The Beijing family, part of the East Asian lineage, was reported to be more virulent. Regarding the importance of this protein in pathogenicity, this study was conducted to investigate the polymorphism of the
hspx
gene in Beijing family compared to non- Beijing strains.
Method
DNA of 50 MTB isolates were extracted by boiling method. The existence of
hspx
gene was determined using PCR-specific primer and finally PCR product was sequenced to examine the polymorphism in both direct and reverse directions. Sequencing results were aligned by chromas software.
Results
The
hspx
gene was detected in all of the Beijing and non-Beijing isolates. The polymorphism in the sequences of this gene were not observed in all of the MTB isolates.
Discussion
This study indicated that
hspx
gene is protected. Also it has showed that lineage type was not related to the sequence of
hspX
gene, but the expression of this protein may be different, which requires further studies.
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