Genetic control of innate resistance to mycobacterial infections.

The Mendelian segregation of resistance to infection in different strains of mice infected with mycobacteria, Salmonella and Leishmania spp, all of which live in macrophages, is currently under close scrutiny. Here, Erwin Schurr and colleagues review the nature and function of the Bcg gene in controlling innate resistance to mycobacterial infection in mice and speculate on the occurrence of a possible human equivalent.