Mutations in the Beginning of the rpoB Gene Can Induce Resistance to Rifamycins in both Helicobacter pylori and Mycobacterium tuberculosis

A clinical isolate of Helicobacter pylori that developed resistance to rifabutin during therapy carried an rpoB gene that retained a wild-type cluster region sequence but had acquired a novel codon 149 (V149F) mutation. In transformation experiments, the mutation was shown to confer high-level rifabutin resistance. The equivalent mutation (V176F) was present in several resistant isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.