TY - JOUR KW - Animals KW - Cloning, Molecular KW - DNA, Bacterial KW - Drug Resistance, Microbial KW - Genes, Bacterial KW - Humans KW - Mycobacterium leprae KW - polymerase chain reaction KW - Rifampin AU - Colston M J AB -

Over the last 30 years, there have been dramatic changes in the way Mycobacterium leprae is studied in the microbiology laboratory. The organism still has not been grown in vitro but, starting with demonstration of growth in the footpads of mice and culminating in the application of molecular biological and genetic techniques, we are now in a position to circumvent some of the difficulties arising from lack of cultivability. Such studies are providing us with new insights into the basic biology of the organism and are likely to provide new tools which will be of value in the clinical laboratory. In this article, I briefly outline the progress which has been made, and the potential applications of molecular techniques in such areas as bacterial identification and drug-resistance testing.

BT - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8266397?dopt=Abstract CN - COLSTON 1993 DA - 1993 Sep-Oct DO - 10.1016/0035-9203(93)90064-w IS - 5 J2 - Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. LA - eng N2 -

Over the last 30 years, there have been dramatic changes in the way Mycobacterium leprae is studied in the microbiology laboratory. The organism still has not been grown in vitro but, starting with demonstration of growth in the footpads of mice and culminating in the application of molecular biological and genetic techniques, we are now in a position to circumvent some of the difficulties arising from lack of cultivability. Such studies are providing us with new insights into the basic biology of the organism and are likely to provide new tools which will be of value in the clinical laboratory. In this article, I briefly outline the progress which has been made, and the potential applications of molecular techniques in such areas as bacterial identification and drug-resistance testing.

PY - 1993 SP - 504 EP - 7 T2 - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene TI - The microbiology of Mycobacterium leprae; progress in the last 30 years. VL - 87 SN - 0035-9203 ER -