Transcriptomics of mycobacterial microaggregates. Mycobacterium avium 104

During initial colonization of the airways, MAH form microaggregates composed of 3-20 bacteria on human respiratory epithelial cells, which provides an environment for phenotypic changes leading to efficient mucosal invasion. DNA microarray was employed to identify genes associated with the microaggregate phenotype. Overall design: Bacteria were incubated with Hep-2 epithelial cells for 24 hrs to form microaggregates or incubated in tissue culture media alone as the control (planktonic bacteria). Bacterial RNA was isolated, purified using MicrobeEnrich, and amplified using Abmbion's Bacterial MessageAMP kit. RNA was hybridized to Affymetrix custom made mycobacterium avium 104 microarrays