Molecular biology of mycobacteria and mycobacteriophages
Abstract
The salient features of the work related to the genetics and molecular biology of mycobacteria carried out by our group at the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology for the past 20 years have been summarized here. The emphasis has mostly been on the characterization of the components of the synth·
etic machinery for macromolecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins in order to correlate a molecular basis for the 'slow growth' phenotype of mycobacteria, and to define possible targets for drug action. The molecular mechanisms of the action of existing antitubercular drugs and the development of resistance against these drugs by mycobacteria have also been investigated. Another significant contribution has been the isolation of a transducting mycobacteriophage, phage 13 and the detailed characterization of its physiology and biochemistry including genome organization. Investigations on bacteriophages have proved to be one of the most important approaches to understand the host, as seen from such parallel studies carried out on other bacterial genera like Escherichia or Salmonella. The establishment of conditions for transduction, transfection, and spheroplast fonnation, fusion and regeneration in order to provide a direct genetic access to mycobacterial research has also been a noteworthy contribution. More recently, the application of recombinant DNA methodologies have permitted the cloning and characterization of genes from mycobacteria and mycobacteriophages, revealing a variety of features ranging from the codon usages to the organisation of transcriptional promoter elements, and thus bringing us a step closer towards the understanding of the molecular mysteries of mycobacterial growth.
etic machinery for macromolecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins in order to correlate a molecular basis for the 'slow growth' phenotype of mycobacteria, and to define possible targets for drug action. The molecular mechanisms of the action of existing antitubercular drugs and the development of resistance against these drugs by mycobacteria have also been investigated. Another significant contribution has been the isolation of a transducting mycobacteriophage, phage 13 and the detailed characterization of its physiology and biochemistry including genome organization. Investigations on bacteriophages have proved to be one of the most important approaches to understand the host, as seen from such parallel studies carried out on other bacterial genera like Escherichia or Salmonella. The establishment of conditions for transduction, transfection, and spheroplast fonnation, fusion and regeneration in order to provide a direct genetic access to mycobacterial research has also been a noteworthy contribution. More recently, the application of recombinant DNA methodologies have permitted the cloning and characterization of genes from mycobacteria and mycobacteriophages, revealing a variety of features ranging from the codon usages to the organisation of transcriptional promoter elements, and thus bringing us a step closer towards the understanding of the molecular mysteries of mycobacterial growth.
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