Brosch R, Gordon S V, Pym A, Eiglmeier K, Garnier T, Cole S T
Unité de Génétique Moléculaire Bactérienne, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Int J Med Microbiol. 2000 May;290(2):143-52. doi: 10.1016/S1438-4221(00)80083-1.
The genus mycobacteria includes two important human pathogens Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium lepra. The former is reputed to have the highest annual global mortality of all pathogens. Their slow growth, virulence for humans and particular physiology makes these organisms extremely difficult to work with. However the rapid development of mycobacterial genomics following the completion of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome sequence provides the basis for a powerful new approach for the understanding of these organisms. Five further genome sequencing projects of closely related mycobacterial species with differing host range, virulence for humans and physiology are underway. A comparative genomic analysis of these species has the potential to define the genetic basis of these phenotypes which will be invaluable for the development of urgently needed new vaccines and drugs. This minireview summarises the different techniques that have been employed to compare these genomes and gives an overview of the wealth of data that has already been generated by mycobacterial comparative genomics.
分枝杆菌属包括两种重要的人类病原体——结核分枝杆菌和麻风分枝杆菌。前者据说是所有病原体中全球年度死亡率最高的。它们生长缓慢、对人类具有致病性以及特殊的生理特性，使得这些微生物极难进行研究。然而，在结核分枝杆菌基因组序列完成后，分枝杆菌基因组学的迅速发展为理解这些微生物提供了一种强大的新方法。另外五个与结核分枝杆菌密切相关、宿主范围不同、对人类的致病性和生理特性各异的物种的基因组测序项目正在进行中。对这些物种进行比较基因组分析有可能确定这些表型的遗传基础，这对于开发急需的新型疫苗和药物将具有不可估量的价值。这篇小型综述总结了用于比较这些基因组的不同技术，并概述了分枝杆菌比较基因组学已经产生的大量数据。
