Characterization of a 34-Kilodalton Protein of Mycobacterium leprae That Is Isologous to the Immunodominant 34-Kilodalton Antigen of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis

During DNA sequence analysis of cosmid L373 from the Mycobacterium leprae genome, an open reading frame of 1.4 kb encoding a protein with some homology to the immunodominant 34-kDa protein of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, but lacking significant serological activity, was detected. The DNA sequence predicted a signal peptide with a modified lipoprotein consensus sequence, but the protein proved to be devoid of lipid attachment.