| TB is the leading cause of death world wide from a single infectious disease. Understanding how M. tuberculosis reacts in various environments will help to further our knowledge of this disease. M. tuberculosis undergoes environmental changes, such as osmotic variation, which has not been investigated in tuberculosis. Genes expressed upon osmotic shock were studied using M. tuberculosis gene arrays. Three replicates of .25M NaCl shock microarrays were compared to mid-log broth arrays and genes induced were established. A sugar transporter was found to be induced upon osmotic shock in all replicate analyses and may contribute to the transport of osmoprotectants. Compatible solutes were determined using a trichloroacetic acid extraction method. Resulting samples were lyophilized and analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance. The disaccharide trehalose was found to accumulate in response to osmotic shock, as was glutamic acid to a lesser extent. These findings will help to advance the study of this pathogen. |
