A Mycobacterium tuberculosis operon encoding ESAT=6 and a novel low-molecular-mass culture filtrate protein (CFP-10) Berthet, Fransois-Xavier and Rasmussen, Peter Birk and Rosenkrands, Ida and Andersen, Peter and Gicquel, Brigitte,, 144, 3195-3203 (1998), doi = https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-144-11-3195, publicationName = Microbiology Society, issn = 1350-0872, 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., language=, type=