@article{mbs:/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-144-11-3195, author = "Berthet, Fransois-Xavier and Rasmussen, Peter Birk and Rosenkrands, Ida and Andersen, Peter and Gicquel, Brigitte", title = "A Mycobacterium tuberculosis operon encoding ESAT=6 and a novel low-molecular-mass culture filtrate protein (CFP-10)", journal= "Microbiology", year = "1998", volume = "144", number = "11", pages = "3195-3203", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-144-11-3195", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-144-11-3195", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2080", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "CFP-10", keywords = "tuberculosis", keywords = "ESAT-6", keywords = "Mycobacterium tuberculosis", keywords = "operon", abstract = "SUMMARY: The early secreted antigenic target 6 kDa protein (ESAT-6) is a potent T-cell protein antigen synthesized by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Its corresponding gene (esat-6) is located in RD1, a 10 kb DNA region deleted in the attenuated tuberculosis vaccine strain Mycobacterium bowis BCG. The promoter region of M. tuberculosis esat-6 was cloned and characterized. A new gene, designated lhp and cotranscribed with esat-6, was identified. Moreover, computer searches in the M. tuberculosis genome identified 13 genes related to the lhplesat-6 operon, defining a novel gene family. The transcription initiation sites of the lhplesat-6 operon were mapped using M. tuberculosis RNA. The corresponding promoter signals were not recognized in Mycobacterium smegmatis, in whichtranscription of lhplesat-6 is initiated at different locations. The M. tuberculosis lhp gene product was identified as CFP-10, a low- molecular-mass protein found in the short-term culture filtrate. These results show that the genes encoding CFP-10 and ESAT-6 are transcribed together in M. tuberculosis and that both code for small exported proteins.", }