Exploring virulence in Mycobacterium bovis: clues from comparative genomics and perspectives for the future

Here we provide a summary of a plenary lecture delivered on Mycobacterium bovis, the bovine TB bacillus, at the M. bovis 2022 meeting held in Galway, Ireland, in June 2022. We focus on the analysis of genetic differences between M. bovis and the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a route to gain knowledge on what makes M. bovis function as an animal pathogen. We provide a brief historical background around M. bovis and comparative virulence experiments with M. tuberculosis, before moving to what we have learned from the studies of the M. bovis genome sequence. We discuss the need to translate knowledge on the molecular basis of virulence in M. bovis into improved control of bovine tuberculosis.

Automated summary

This article is a summary of a plenary lecture on Mycobacterium bovis, the bovine TB bacillus, presented at the M. bovis 2022 meeting. It focuses on the genetic differences between M. bovis and the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and explores the reasons behind M. bovis' function as an animal pathogen. The article also discusses the importance of translating knowledge on M. bovis' virulence into the control of bovine tuberculosis.