Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the causative agent of tuberculosis remains the most successful human pathogen. Though considered to be under control only 20 years ago, a number of factors like the spread of HIV and the emergence of drug resistant MTB strains have led to the resurgence of this disease. There is thus a clear and urgent need to extend our understanding of the physiology and pathogenicity of MTB with the aim of developing new therapeutics and vaccines.

Complex lipids play an important role in the biology of the bacterium as a large proportion of the genome contains genes proposed to be involved in lipid biosynthesis. A distinct lipid rich outer envelope helps MTB counteract a number of inhospitable conditions in vivo, and many mycobacterial lipids display immunomodulatory activities when tested in models of infection. Mycobacterial lipids thus play an important role in virulence. Furthermore, some of these lipids have been shown to be essential for growth and the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of these lipids represent potential drug targets. The pathways involved in lipid biosynthesis thus merit a detailed study.

A broad aim of my research is understand how mycobacterial lipids are made, and the impact they have on virulence. We use a genetic approach to address these questions by generating mutant strains that are defective in these pathways. Research in my laboratory is funded by a Career Development Award, and Research Grants from the Medical Research Council.