Compounds and methods for diagnosing tuberculosis or for inducing
protective immunity against tuberculosis are disclosed. The compounds
provided include polypeptides that contain at least one immunogenic
portion of one or more Mycobacterium proteins and DNA molecules encoding
such polypeptides. Diagnostic kits containing such polypeptides or DNA
sequences and a suitable detection reagent may be used for the detection
of Mycobacterium infection in patients and biological samples. Antibodies
directed against such polypeptides are also provided. In addition, such
compounds may be formulated into vaccines and/or pharmaceutical
compositions for immunization against Mycobacterium infection.