Mycobacterium tuberuculosis Biofilm Studies

Dr. Mark Shirtliff projects‌‌‌Advanced TB infections are remarkably hard to cure due to the presence of the microbe in a granuloma derived from host and pathogen factors. Although this form of infection should be considered a biofilm infection, nearly all of the vaccine and proteomic/transcriptomic/phenotypic studies have used the free floating or planktonic mode of growth model. Therefore, our goal is to analyze the host response and proteomic nature of M. tuberculosis in a biofilm mode of growth.