Table 1.

Mycobacterial virulence factors promoting infection and disease.

Virulence Factor	Function	Disease Promotion
Upregulated genes * MAP1203	Invasion and intracellular persistence protein	Cellular invasion within the host, avoidance of host immunity
MAP4088	Cell entry lipoprotein
LuxR [29]	Gene overexpression increases cellular invasion [18]
Nonpolar lipid (lipid 550) [26]	Cell wall lipid
Downregulated gene * para-LP-01 [26]	Cell wall component	Downregulated in vivo promoting AMR
Absence of cell wall in vivo	Intracellular parasite, reduced genome size	Resistance to antibiotic therapy, difficult to detect
Genetic plasticity	Production of varying phenotypes	Adaption to environmental changes, promotes survival
Mucosal adherence	Colonization of host membranes	Avoidance of host immunity, access to macrophages
Fibronectin attachment protein	Attachment and internalization of mycobacteria [35]	Promotes opsonization by fibronectin [27]
Altering phagolysosome fusion and maturation [25]	Disrupt the formation of the mature phagolysosome, prevent acidification	Survival within macrophages, avoid hydrolysis and oxidation reactions [25]
Modulation of macrophage apoptosis	Controlling apoptosis, regulating macrophage cell death	Allows for intracellular MAP replication [36] until burst capacity is reached [21]
PstA gene [37]	Biofilm formation-populated communities attached to surfaces	Chemical resistance, surviving harsh environments
Dormancy	Bacterial state allowing survival of non-spore-forming bacteria [38,39]	Survival in unfavorable environmental conditions [38]
Heat tolerance [28]	Resistance to pasteurization	Foodborne zoonosis

* strain specific.