NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE 85B-PROTEIN GENE OF MYCOBACTERIUM-BOVIS BCG AND MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS

We have cloned and sequenced the genes coding for the 85B antigen from M. bovis BCC and M. tuberculosis. Within this gene, the only differen ce in sequence between M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis corresponds, r espectively, to a C-->T yielding a Leu-->Phe replacement at position 1 00 of the mature 85B protein. Therefore as we described previously for the 85A gene, there is also very little variation between these two s pecies within the 85B gene.