Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a significant human pathogen that has infected nearly one third of the world's population and kills around 2 million people each year. It has recently been suggested that M. tuberculosis can form fibers that may be amyloid. My goal is understand the mechanism of fiber formation and the role of MTP and any accessory proteins in this process.
I am also interested in understanding the role that csgE plays in the production of amyloid fibers in E. coli. Using a combination of mutagenesis and biochemical techniques I plan to characterize the effect that csgE has on both csgA and csgB within the bacterial cell and in vitro.
