Diaminodiphenylsulfone resistance of Mycobacterium leprae due to mutationsin the dihydropteroate synthase gene

The nucleo tide sequence analysis of the dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) ge ne of six diaminodiphenylsulfone-resistant Mycobacterium leprae strains rev ealed that the mutation was limited at highly conserved amino acid residues 53 or 55. Though the mutation at amino acid residue 55 or its homologous s ite has been reported in other bacteria, the mutation at residue 53 is the first case in bacteria. This is the first paper which links the mutations i n DHPS and sulfonamide resistance in M. leprae. This finding is medically a nd socially relevant, since leprosy is still a big problem in certain regio ns. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.