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Updated: Jul 9, 2026
A Functional Whole Blood Assay to Measure Viability of Mycobacteria, using Reporter-Gene Tagged BCG or M.Tb BCG lux/M.Tb lux
Published on: September 14, 2011
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin strains with defined resistance mutations: a new tool for tuberculosis laboratory quality
S N Danchuk1, F McIntosh2, F B Jamieson3
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; McGill International TB Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Objective:
Laboratory quality control (QC) is essential to assess the reliability of tuberculosis diagnostic testing. To provide safe QC reagents for the detection of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we generated antibiotic-resistant mycobacterial strains of attenuated virulence (M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)).
Methods:
Seven mono-resistant BCG strains were developed by introducing resistance-conferring mutations into wild-type BCG strains. Mutations were confirmed by dideoxynucleotide sequencing. Phenotypic resistance was quantified by microbroth dilution to determine the MIC90. The capacity of two commercial tests (GeneXpert TB/RIF and Genotype MTBDRplus) to detect resistance-conferring mutations was evaluated independently.
Results:
Our panel included BCG strains with mutations in rpoB (S450L, I491F), katG (deletion at AA428), gyrA (D94G), rpsL (K43R) and Rv0678c (S63R). These mutations translated respectively into phenotypic resistance to rifampin (MIC ≥8 mg/L), isoniazid (MIC ≥8 mg/L), moxifloxacin (MIC 4 mg/L) and streptomycin (MIC ≥8 mg/L); the Rv0678c mutant showed decreased susceptibility to both clofazimine (MIC 4 mg/L) and bedaqualine (MIC 1 mg/L). GeneXpert (Cepheid) and Genotype MTBDRplus (Hain Lifesciences) both called the rpoB S450L strain rifampin-resistant and the I491F mutant rifampin-susceptible, as expected based on single nucleotide polymorphism positions. Likewise, MTBDRplus called the novel katG deletion mutant isoniazid susceptible despite phenotypic resistance.
Conclusion:
BCG strains engineered to be mono-resistant to anti-tuberculosis drugs can be used as safe QC reagents for tuberculosis diagnostics and drug susceptibility testing.
