R apid laboratory identification of tuberculosis (TB) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance are critical to ensure timely initiation of therapy, to inform appropriate TB therapy, and to facilitate infection control. Early diagnosis of TB and drugresistant disease is of particular importance in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, as delay of therapy (1, 2) and drug-resistant TB (3) can be devastating in those with compromised immune systems. Diagnosis of TB in HIV can be a particular challenge, as 24% to 61% of HIV coinfected individuals with pulmonary TB have acid-fast bacillus (AFB)-smear-negative sputum (2). Culture-based testing for M. tuberculosis and M. tuberculosis drug resistance requires an unacceptably long turnaround for results, is limited by contamination rates, and requires considerable infrastructure and human resources.Molecular line probe assays (LPA) permit rapid diagnosis of TB, isoniazid and rifampin resistance, and clinically relevant non-M. tuberculosis mycobacteria. In these assays, DNA or RNA is isolated from culture or direct (i.e., sputum) respiratory samples and then amplified and reverse hybridized onto a nitrocellulose strip with immobilized probes for different mycobacteria or for mutations that confer resistance. These strips can be quickly interpreted using a template, with the entire testing process taking a day or less in most cases. In 2008, the World Health Organization endorsed the use of line probe assays for detection of M. tuberculosis drug resistance; however, use was recommended on culture specimens and AFB-positive (AFB ϩ ) sputum specimens only, given the lack of data for use in AFB-negative sputum (4). Given the prevalence of paucibacillary disease in HIV-TB coinfection, it is important to understand line probe performance across the spectrum of bacillary loads in HIV-infected persons, in whom there are limited data to inform use of line probe assays.The GenoType MTBDRplus (MTBDR-Plus) (Hain Lifesciences GmBH, Nehren, Germany) identifies rifampin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH) resistance by detecting the most common mutations of the rpoB gene and the katG and inhA genes, respectively, and can be used on both cultured and direct specimens. MTBDR-Plus LPA