Signature-tagged transposon mutagenesis identifies novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes involved in the parasitism of human macrophages

Using signature-tagged transposon mutagenesis, we isolated 23 Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutants, corresponding to 21 genes or genetic regions, attenuated in their ability to parasitize human macrophages. Mutants disrupted in the ABC transporter-encoding genes Rv0986 and Rv0987 were further characterized as being impaired in their ability to bind to host cells.