Mycobacterial origin protein Rv0674 localizes into mitochondria, interacts with D-loop and regulates OXPHOS for intracellular persistence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) employs diverse strategies to survive inside the host macrophages. In this study, we have identified a conserved hypothetical protein of Mtb; Rv0674, which is present in the mitochondria of the host cell. The genetic knock-out of rv0674 (Mtb-KO) showed increased growth of Mtb.