Electronic Access Mycobacterium tuberculosis Sequence Data

The complete genome sequence of the well studied laboratory strain of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(H37Rv) has been published by the Sanger Centre (
1
), and this information will soon be complemented by the completion of a recent clinical isolate of
M. tuberculosis
(CDC1551/CSU93) by The Institute for Genomic Research (
2
). In addition to these sequences, projects for the genomic sequencing of
Mycobacterium bovis
(
3
),
Mycobacterium leprae
(
4
), and
Mycobacterium avium
(
5
) are underway. A vast wealth of basic information about the fundamental genetic makeup of the
Mycobacteria
is already available, and this mine of essential data is set to expand still further. This information is obviously of great benefit to researchers in the field, but the sheer volume of data often makes it inaccessible. This chapter aims to briefly describe the principal methods of access currently available, and the benefits of each.