Mycobacterium tuberculosis Comparative Database Mycobacterium
tuberculosis causes 8-9 million cases of infection, and 1.5
million deaths every year. These numbers are on the rise
globally, especially in Africa, Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union. Part of the problem in treating TB is the
appearance of drug resistant TB strains, including strains with
multiple drug resistance (MDR) and, more recently, strains with
extensive drug resistance (XDR), which are much more difficult
to treat. In this project, we are performing sequencing and
comparative analysis of multiple patient isolates with varying
clinical phenotypes and disease epidemiology. Our goal is to
have a better understanding of the molecular basis of
fundamental clinical phenotypes such as TB transmission and drug
resistance. We are sequencing 8 strains of Mycobacterium
tuberculosis towards the ends of better understanding, treating,
and ultimately eradicating this deadly human pathogen. The
genome sequences of several strains of M. tuberculos