Novel mutation in efflux pump Rv1258c (Tap) gene in drug resistant clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Iran
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Updated: Jun 30, 2025
Demonstrating a Multi-drug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Amplification Microarray
Published on: April 25, 2014
ShimaSadat Farzaneh1, Fatemeh Norouzi2, Hossein Fazeli1
1Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Introduction:
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious public health problem worldwide. Drug-resistant TB is considered a major and growing global threat. Despite the great variety of described mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) resistance genes, the mechanisms of drug resistance are still controversial. Recently, a report on the role of efflux pump genes in drug resistance added to this complexity. Therefore, a thorough understanding of efflux pump genes in drug-resistant TB clinical isolates is needed.
Methodology:
We performed molecular analysis of the efflux pump gene (Rv1258c) in 33 drug-resistant and 20 drug-sensitive clinical MTB isolates by sequencing the amplicons' targets in both the forward and reverse directions.
Results:
A novel mutation of the Rv1258c gene was identified at G442A (Ala148Thr) in rifampicin mono-resistant clinical strain, as compared to the H37Rv reference strain. In addition, a cytosine nucleotide insertion was found between the positions 580 and 581 (denominated Tap580) in two drug-sensitive strains at identical gene positions.
Conclusions:
These results indicated the possibility of mutation in the efflux pump genes and the important role of Tap efflux pump genes in drug-resistant MTB isolates. However, further research is required to determine the direct association of these mutations with resistant MTB.
