M. tuberculosis BN attenuated strain

We developed a novel profoundly attenuated strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using the classic approach of A. Calmette and C. Guerin: serial passaging of virulent mycobacteria in liquid culture medium for more than 10 years. Here we report technical details of the new strain development, alterations in its genomic sequence compare to the original strain, the degree of attenuation, parameters of persistence and vaccination efficacy compared to the BCG Pasteur sub-strain, as well as some characteristics of immune responses and lung pathology in the lungs of vaccinated mice of genetically TB susceptible and resistant inbred strains.