Events

Abstract: Mycolic acids are unique long chain fatty acids found in the cell walls of mycobacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis. They play an important role in virulence, and are also vital for bacterial viability. The talk will focus on our past and recent findings that have identified genes involved in the biosynthesis as well as transport. Additionally, we show that qualitative changes in mycolic acid biosynthesis are possibly driven by complex regulatory mechanisms.

Biography: I did my first degree and Masters in Microbiology in India, and obtained a PhD in Genetics from the John Innes Centre and UEA, Norwich. Following postdoctoral appointments at the Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge (natural product biosynthesis) and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York (Tuberculosis), I set up my own lab at the University of Birmingham with a Career Development Award from the MRC to work on pathogenic mycobacteria.