Re-growth of populations exposed to antibiotic combinations is due to the presence of isoniazid and not bacterial growth rate.

Modulation of growth rate in is key to its survival in the host; particularly with regard to its adaptation during chronic infection when the growth rate is very slow. The resulting physiological changes will influence the way this pathogen interacts with the host and responds to antibiotics. Therefore, it is important that we understand how growth rate impacts antibiotic efficacy, particularly with respect to recovery/relapse.

Esterification of geraniol as a strategy for increasing product titre and specificity in engineered Escherichia coli.

Background: Geraniol, an acyclic monoterpene alcohol, is found as a primary constituent in the essential oils of plants such as geranium, lemongrass and rose. The floral-like scent of geraniol has made it a popular constituent of flavour and fragrance products. Over recent decades biotechnology has made significant progress towards the development of industrial platforms for the production of commercially valuable monoterpenoids, such as geraniol, through expression of recombinant terpene biosynthetic pathways in microbial hosts.

A Flow Cytometry Method for Rapidly Assessing Mycobacterium tuberculosis Responses to Antibiotics with Different Modes of Action.

Current methods for assessing the drug susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are lengthy and do not capture information about viable organisms that are not immediately culturable under standard laboratory conditions as a result of antibiotic exposure. We have developed a rapid dual-fluorescence flow cytometry method using markers for cell viability and death. We show that the fluorescent marker calcein violet with an acetoxy-methyl ester group (CV-AM) can differentiate between populations of M.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Is Resistant to Isoniazid at a Slow Growth Rate by Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in katG Codon Ser315.

An important aim for improving TB treatment is to shorten the period of antibiotic therapy without increasing relapse rates or encouraging the development of antibiotic-resistant strains. In any M. tuberculosis population there is a proportion of bacteria that are drug-tolerant; this might be because of pre-existing populations of slow growing/non replicating bacteria that are protected from antibiotic action due to the expression of a phenotype that limits drug activity.

Non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis elicits a reduced infectivity profile with corresponding modifications to the cell wall and extracellular matrix.

A key feature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is its ability to become dormant in the host. Little is known of the mechanisms by which these bacilli are able to persist in this state. Therefore, the focus of this study was to emulate environmental conditions encountered by M.

ELISPOT Refinement Using Spot Morphology for Assessing Host Responses to Tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is a global health problem. The Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine has variable efficacy (0-80%) so there is a drive to develop novel vaccines. The cytokine, interferon gamma (IFNγ), is an essential component of the protective response to M.