MOLECULAR-BASIS OF STREPTOMYCIN RESISTANCE IN MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS - ALTERATIONS OF THE RIBOSOMAL-PROTEIN S12 GENE AND POINT MUTATIONS WITHIN A FUNCTIONAL 16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA PSEUDOKNOT

Multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have resulte d in several recent outbreaks. Recognition of drug resistance is impor tant both for treatment and to prevent further transmission. Here we u se molecular biology techniques to study the basis of streptomycin res istance in single and multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis. We demonstr ate that streptomycin resistance is associated with mutations implicat ed in ribosomal resistance. The mutations found either lead to amino a cid changes in ribosomal protein S12 or alter the primary structure of the 16S rRNA. The 16S rRNA region mutated perturbs a pseudoknot struc ture in a region which has been linked to ribosomal S12 protein.