Molecular Biology of the Mycobacteria

The molecular biology of the mycobacteria is poised at the threshold of making major contributions to the understanding of the biochemistry and pathogenic mechanisms involved in mycobacterial infections. The application of molecular biology to the study of mycobacteria has recently begun, with preliminary studies on the nucleic acids of mycobacteria, cloning and expression of a number of mycobacterial genes and the development of mycobacteria themselves as gene cloning systems. In this review, we will discuss the progress that has been made so far and the likely direction of future work.