Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of the infectious disease Tuberculosis, is one of the most successful human pathogen. The disease remains a global health priority due to the spread of HIV and multidrug resistant strains. Therefore, there is a need to extend the understanding of the physiology and pathogenicity of M. tuberculosis in order to develop new therapies, antimicrobial drugs and vaccines. Mycobacterium possesses a unique cell envelope responsible for the reduced susceptibility to antibiotics and pathogenicity due to the high lipid content. It is composed by the plasma membrane, an unusual lipid-rich cell wall and an outermost layer known as the capsule. Moreover, other complex metabolites play a role in M. tuberculosis virulence such as inorganic polyphosphate, a polymer involved in stringent response and long term survival. In this study, a transposon mutant library was generated in order to identify new genetic determinants related to cell envelope; furthermore, specific mutants strains were generated to investigate the role of MmpL factors in mycolic acids transport, to test the role of a group of ABC-transporters in capsule biosynthesis and also to assess the function of exopolyphosphatases in survival under stress and nutrient limitation condition.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:629709 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Varela Ramirex, Cristian |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/5412/ |
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