Abstract: The present invention relates generally to nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of a fusion polypeptide comprising a Mycobacterium tuberculosis polypeptide, and a heterologous polypeptide of interest, expression vectors and host cells comprising such nucleic acids, and methods for producing such fusion polypeptides. In particular, the invention relates to materials and methods of using such M. tuberculosis sequence as a fusion partner to facilitate the stable and high yield expression of recombinant heterologous polypeptides of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic origin.

Abstract: The present invention relates generally to nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of a fusion polypeptide comprising a Mycobacterium tuberculosis polypeptide, and a heterologous polypeptide of interest, expression vectors and host cells comprising such nucleic acids, and methods for producing such fusion polypeptides. In particular, the invention relates to materials and methods of using such M. tuberculosis sequence as a fusion partner to facilitate the stable and high yield expression of recombinant heterologous polypeptides of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic origin.

Abstract: The present invention provides a recombinant nucleic acid molecule encoding a fusion polypeptide, wherein the recombinant nucleic acid comprises a heterologous polynucleotide sequence encoding an antigen or an antigenic fragment, and a Leishmania polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide or fragment thereof, wherein the Leishmania polynucleotide is selected from the group consisting of TSA polynucleotide, LeIF polynucleotide, M15 polynucleotide, and 6H polynucleotide. The invention also provides an expression cassette comprising the recombinant nucleic acid molecule, host cells comprising the expression cassette, compositions, fusion polypeptides, and methods of their use in diagnosis or in generating a protective immune response in hosts.