UNDERSTANDING TUBERCULOSIS – DECIPHERING THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BACILLI Edited by Pere-Joan Cardona Understanding Tuberculosis – Deciphering the Secret Life of the Bacilli Edited by Pere-Joan Cardona Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Marija Radja Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published February, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Understanding Tuberculosis – Deciphering the Secret Life of the Bacilli, Edited by Pere- Joan Cardona p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-946-2 Contents Preface IX Part 1 The "Quiet" Genome 1 Chapter 1 Molecular Biomarkers for Ancient Tuberculosis 3 David E. Minnikin, Oona Y-C. Lee, Houdini H.T. Wu, Gurdyal S. Besra and Helen D. Donoghue Chapter 2 Genomic Variability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis 37 María Mercedes Zambrano, Ginna Hernández-Neuta, Iván Hernández-Neuta, Andrea Sandoval, Andrés Cubillos-Ruiz, Alejandro Reyes and Patricia Del Portillo Chapter 3 IS6110 the Double-Edged Passenger 59 María del Carmen Menéndez, Sofía Samper, Isabel Otal and María Jesús García Chapter 4 Response of Mycobacterial Species to an Acidic Environment 89 Beatrice Saviola Chapter 5 Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Signaling via c-AMP 103 Mario Alberto Flores-Valdez, Jeannette Barba and Angel H. Alvarez Chapter 6 Mycobacterium tuberculosis RD-1 Secreted Antigens as Protective and Risk Factors for Tuberculosis 117 Niladri Ganguly and Pawan Sharma Chapter 7 Mycobacterium tuberculosis Transcriptome In Vivo Studies – A Key to Understand the Pathogen Adaptation Mechanism 129 Tatyana Azhikina and Timofey Skvortsov VI Contents Part 2 Resisting an Agressive Environment 147 Chapter 8 Morphological Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis 149 Ali Akbar Velayati and Parissa Farnia Chapter 9 Mycobacterial Strains of Different Virulence Trigger Dissimilar Patterns of Immune System Activation In Vivo 167 Aaron Silva-Sanchez, Selene Meza-Pérez, Fernando Muñoz-Teneria, Dulce Mata, Juana Calderon-Amador, Sergio Estrada-Parra, Rogelio Hernández-Pando, Iris Estrada-García and Leopoldo Flores-Romo Chapter 10 Biofilms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: New Perspectives of an Old Pathogen 181 Anil K. Ojha and Graham F. Hatfull Chapter 11 Cell Wall Deficiency in Mycobacteria: Latency and Persistence 193 Nadya Markova Chapter 12 Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Dormancy, Persistence and Survival in the Light of Protein Synthesis 217 Ranjeet Kumar and Suparna Sanyal Chapter 13 Lipid Surrounding of Mycobacteria: Lethal and Resuscitating Effects 239 Alla A. Selishcheva, Galina M. Sorokoumova and Evgeniya V. Nazarova Chapter 14 Heat Shock Proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Involvement in Survival and Virulence of the Pathogen 257 Divya Bajaj and Janendra K. Batra Chapter 15 Mammalian Heme Peroxidases and Mycobacterium tuberculosis 277 Amit K. Singh, Nisha Pandey, Mau Sinha, Sujata Sharma and Tej P. Singh Chapter 16 Thiol-Dependent Peroxidases in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Antioxidant Defense 293 Martín Hugo, Rafael Radi and Madia Trujillo Chapter 17 Characteristic Conformational Behaviors of Representative Mycolic Acids in the Interfacial Monolayer 317 Masumi Villeneuve Preface Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been the paradigm of genetic stability for years, compared to other bacterial families or viruses, which is mainly related to its lack of plasmid content. As recent investigations demonstrate, the bacillus has a complex signaling expression, which allows its close interaction with the environment and one of its most renowned properties: the ability to persist for long periods of time under a non-replicative status. Although this skill is well characterized in other bacteria, the intrinsically very slow growth rate of Mycobium tuberculosis, together with a very thick and complex cell wall, makes this pathogen specially adapted to the stress that could be generated by the host against them. In this book, different aspects of these properties are displayed by specialists in the field. Dr. Pere-Joan Cardona Institut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) Catalunya, Spain . UNDERSTANDING TUBERCULOSIS – DECIPHERING THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BACILLI Edited by Pere-Joan Cardona Understanding Tuberculosis – Deciphering the Secret Life of the. about the occurrence of tuberculosis in the pre-colonial Understanding Tuberculosis – Deciphering the Secret Life of the Bacilli 10 Far East (Spigelman & Lemma, 1993) and whether tuberculosis. Zumla, 2009). Post-primary tuberculosis is estimated to occur in a similar proportion of people and these Understanding Tuberculosis – Deciphering the Secret Life of the Bacilli 4 individuals