Purification of cytochrome P-450 from Mycobacterium
smegmatis, M. chelonae, M. fortuitum and M. tuberculosis
H37RV was undertaken. The electrophoretic
pattern revealed a single band corresponding to a
molecular weight of 66 kDa in all the four species.
Cytochrome P-450 purified from drug-resistant
M. tuberculosis showed a different pattern from that
of the sensitive bacteria, and the former was similar to
the purified product obtained from phenobarbitalinduced
cytochrome P-450 in M. tuberculosis H37RV. It
therefore appears that different forms of cytochrome
P-450 are present in drug-sensitive and resistant M.
tuberculosis, and that there is similarity in the pattern
between drug-resistant and phenobarbital-induced M.
tuberculosis
