Evidence that protein antigen b of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is involved in phosphate metabolism.

Protein antigen b (Pab) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has previously attracted interest because of its immunological and diagnostic relevance. In this study we present evidence that Pab possesses a signal sequence and is secreted from the cytoplasm of M. tuberculosis. The synthesis of Pab is enhanced under phosphate starvation indicating that the protein is involved in phosphate metabolism in M. tuberculosis.