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Massive gene decay in the leprosy bacillus.

S T Cole1, K Eiglmeier, J Parkhill

  • 1Unité de Génétique Moléculaire Bactérienne, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. stcole@pasteur.fr

Nature
|March 10, 2001
PubMed
Summary

The leprosy bacterium, Mycobacterium leprae, has undergone extreme genome reduction, losing many genes and metabolic functions. This explains its slow growth and inability to be cultured in labs, offering insights into this chronic neurological disease.

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