For a slow-growing microbe that multiplies infrequently, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen that causes tuberculosis (TB) has long puzzled researchers as to how it develops resistance to antibiotics so quickly, in a matter of weeks to months.
Now, TB researchers at San Diego State University have uncovered a crucial clue to the mystery: the answer may lie in the epigenetic domain rather than the genetic domain where most scientists have concentrated their efforts.
Their discovery could help advance new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccine targets.
Epigenetics is the study of inheritable changes in gene expression that do not involve a corresponding change to the underlying DNA sequence — meaning changes to the phenotype but no change in the genotype. This affects only the physical structure of the DNA, through a process called DNA methylation where a chemical ‘cap’ is added to the DNA molecule, preventing or facilitating the expression of certain genes.
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