Mycobacterium abscessus virulence traits unraveled by transcriptomic profiling in amoebae and macrophages

We report the transcriptome of M. abscessus in amoebae and macrophages. M. abscessus intra-amoebal and intra-macrophagic transcriptomes demonstrate of the potential of M. abscessus to adapt to an intracellular lifestyle, though amoebae largely contribute to the enhancement of M. abscessus survival macrophages. RNA sequencing of M. abscessus RNA in amoebae 4/16 hours post-infection (hpi) and macrophages 16 hpi and Mycobacterium chelonae RNA in amoebae 16 hpi. Amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii and J774.2 murine macrophages cell lines were used for the purpose of this study.