Fig. 5

TMKmt mRNA expression profile among pure cultures of Uganda genotype 1 and H37Rv. This figure shows the TMKmt mRNA expression profile among pure cultures of Uganda genotype 1 and H37Rv. The 1st of several spikes in TMKmt rRNA levels was detected at 2.5 h (reaching its peak at 3 h) among in vitro cultures pathogenic wild-type Ugandan isolate alongside a laboratory M. tb strain The cyclic pattern expression of TMKmt Ag among H37RV, was different from the Ugandan genotype 1. Specifically, H37RV demonstrated an early but short lived spike in TMKmt Ag levels between 0 and 3 h post innoculation, with the next spike emerging at 12 h. This early spike in H37RV TMKmt Ag expression profiles, may explain why this lab strain grows faster than pathogenic strains (see Additional file 5: Figure S3). More important, however, is that regardless of these differences in cyclic patterns of TMKmt Ag expression, the Ugandan genotype displayed higher amplitudes of TMKmt mRNA expression. Although the 1st spike of TMKmt mRNA expression coincided with the 1st spike of TMKmt Ag levels, unlike the case for mRNA, TMKmt Ag expression profiles were followed by increasing lags between subsequent spikes relative to the 1st spike