Research Theme

• Identifying virulence factors of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

Keyword

• Mycobacterium bovis
• Zoonotic TB
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC)

Overview of Research

• We combine ‘omics technologies (such as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics) to identify genes and regulons that are differentially regulated across the members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC).
• Using molecular genetics, we construct defined mycobacterial mutants and assess how the mutants vary in their responses to various in vitro stress conditions, as well as their interaction with the host (ex vivo and in vivo).
• These approaches allow a dissection of the virulence systems used by mycobacterial pathogens to cause disease, and reveal new targets for the development of live attenuated and subunit vaccines.
• We also use whole genome sequencing of M. bovis isolates to identify infection source(s) and track transmission dynamics, focussing in particular on persistence of infection and transmission at the wildlife-livestock interface.