Gene Replacement and Transposon Delivery Using the Negative Selection Marker sacB

Gene replacement and transposon mutagenesis are two complementary tools that have been widely used to perform genetic studies in various living organisms. In mycobacteria, and especially in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, the lack of these tools has severely hampered the genetic studies of these organisms, especially regarding the identification and characterization of virulence genes of these important pathogens.