Patent ID: 8076469

Claim:
A nucleic acid fragment in isolated form which 1) comprises a nucleic acid sequence which encodes a polypeptide which a) comprises an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 2, b) comprises a subsequence of the amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:2 which has a length of at least 6 amino acid residues, said subsequence being immunologically equivalent to the polypeptide defined in a) with respect to the ability of evoking a protective immune response against infections with mycobacteria belonging to the tuberculosis complex or with respect to the ability of eliciting a diagnostically significant immune response indicating previous or ongoing sensitization with antigens obtainable from mycobacteria belonging to the tuberculosis complex, or c) comprises an amino acid sequence having a sequence identity with the amino acid sequence defined in a) or the subsequence defined in b) of at least 70% and at the same time being immunologically equivalent to the amino acid sequence defined in a) with respect to the ability of evoking a protective immune response against infections with mycobacteria belonging to the tuberculosis complex or with respect to the ability of eliciting a diagnostically significant immune response indicating previous or ongoing sensitization with antigens obtainable from mycobacteria belonging to the tuberculosis complex; or comprises a nucleic acid sequence complementary thereto.