Production of mycobacterial polypeptides by lactic acid bacteria

摘要

A method of producing, in a recombinant lactic acid bacterium such as Lactococcus lactis, a bioreactive polypeptide derived from mycobacteria belonging to the M. tuberculosis complex Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium africanum and Mycobacterium bovis or any other mycobacterial species. The lactic acid bacterially produced polypeptide is in the form of monomer or polymers of one or more polypeptide and it is useful as a diagnostic agent in delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin tests in animals and humans and in vaccines. A bioreactive ESAT-6 homodimer polypeptide is described.