Comparison of gene expression of WT and PerM mutant M. tuberculosis H37Rv grown in high and reduced magnesium. Mycobacterium tuberculosis

M. tuberculosis membrane protein PerM is required for persistence in chronic mouse infection. In vitro, the perM mutant requires increased magnesium for replication and survival, with elongation and lysis in low-magnesium media. To gain insight into the function of PerM, we compared the transcriptomes of wt and perM mutant Mtb grown in high (2000 μM) and reduced (250 μM) Mg2+ in three independent experiments. Transcriptome analysis of the perM mutant grown in reduced magnesium revealed upregulation of cell division and cell wall biosynthesis genes. Overall design: Bacteria were grown for 5 days in Sauton’s media containing 250 or 2000 μM MgCl2 and 0.05% Tween 80. Three independent experiments were performed.