[Role of carbon substrates of culture media on Mycobacterium smegmatis susceptibility to antitubercular agents].

Influence of medium composition on Mycobacterium smegmatis growth and susceptibility to antituberculosis drugs (ATD)--isoniazid and rifabutin--was studied. It was shown that addition of phospholipids (PL) in form of liposomes to meat peptone broth resulted in activation of M. smegmatis growth and decrease of its susceptibility to ATD.

[The role of 2-C-methylerythritol-2,4-cyclopyrophosphate in the resuscitation of the "nonculturable" forms of Mycobacterium smegmatis].

2-C-Methyl-D-erythritol-2,4-cyclopyrophosphate (MEC), an intermediate of the biosynthesis of isoprenoid compounds in bacteria, was found to be capable of exerting a resuscitating effect on resting Mycobacterium smegmatis cells. The introduction of an additional copy of the ispE gene encoding cytidyl-methylerythritol kinase, an enzyme involved in MEC synthesis in M. smegmatis, resulted in the emergence of a capacity for spontaneous reactivation of "nonculturable" M.