Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health problem and currently, the only licensed TB vaccine is 
Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guerin (M. bovis BCG). In the present invention, 
mutation of mycobacterial components reportedly involved in phagosome maturation inhibition was evaluated for vaccine purposes, as such mutations should result in better 
vaccine antigen processing and presentation. Thus, BCG mutants in genes coding for ManLAM capping a-1,2-mannosyltransferases and the PI3P 
phosphatase SapM were evaluated as TB vaccines in a stringent mouse model. 
Vaccination with both ManLAM capping mutants and the SapM 
mutant resulted in significantly longer survival as compared to non-vaccinated mice, whereas 
vaccination with the parental BCG did not. Moreover, mice vaccinated with the SapM 
mutant survived significantly longer than mice vaccinated with the parental BCG.; The 
mutant BCG strains showed unaltered 
phagocytosis, replication, 
lysosome colocalization and oxidant activity in macrophages and similarly induced 
autophagy in the latter. Additionally, replication and 
granuloma formation in mice was unaffected, indicating BCG-equivalent safety of these vaccines.