bThe immune protection initiated by ␥␦ T cells plays an important role in mycobacterial infection. The ␥␦ T cells activated by Mycobacterium tuberculosis-derived nonpeptidic, phosphorylated biometabolites (phosphoantigens) provide only partial immune protection against mycobacterium, while evidence has suggested that protein antigen-activated ␥␦ T cells elicit effective protective immune responses. To date, only a few distinct mycobacterial protein antigens have been identified. In the present study, we screened protein antigens recognized by ␥␦ T cells using cells transfected with the predominant pulmonary tuberculosis ␥␦ T cell receptor (TCR) CDR3 fragment. We identified two peptides, TP1 and TP2, which not only bind to the pulmonary tuberculosis predominant ␥␦ TCR but also effectively activate ␥␦ T cells isolated from pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Moreover, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase 2 (DXS2), the TP1-matched mycobacterial protein, was confirmed as a ligand for the ␥␦ TCR and was found to activate ␥␦ T cells from pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The extracellular region (extracellular peptide [EP]) of Rv2272, a TP2-matched mycobacterial transmembrane protein, was also shown to activate ␥␦ T cells from pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Both DXS2-and EP-expanded ␥␦ T cells from pulmonary tuberculosis patients could secrete gamma interferon (IFN-␥) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), which play important roles in mediating cytotoxicity against mycobacterium and stimulating monocyte chemotaxis toward the site of infection. In conclusion, our study identified novel mycobacterial protein antigens recognized by ␥␦ TCR cells that could be candidates for the development of vaccines or adjuvants against mycobacterium infection.