AFC Summer 2001

Held at Newcastle University

July 2001

Newcastle Mini symposium

New antimycobacterial agents, related to thiolactomycin
David E. Minnikin

Galactan biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Identification of a bifunctional UDP-galactofuranosyltransferase
Lynn Dover

Biochemical characterisation of acyl carrier protein (AcpM) and  malonyl-CoA:AcpM transacylase (mtFabD), two major components of  Mycobacterium tuberculosis fatty acid synthase II
K. Madhavan Nampoothiri:

Ppm1, a prenol monophospho-mannose synthase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Gurdyal S. Besra

Session 1

Construction  and application of a gene-specific whole genome DNA microarray for M. tuberculosis
J Hinds¹, JA Mangan¹, KG Laing¹, H Al-Ghusein¹, NG Stoker², JK Vass³, RS Buxton⁴, MJ Colston⁴, PD Butcher¹. ¹St George’s Hospital Medical School, London. ²London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London. ³Beatson Institute, Glasgow. ⁴NIMR, Mill Hill, London

Molecular investigation of the role the 34 kDa protein plays in the virulence of M. a. partatuberculosis
Darragh Heaslip, Karen Stevenson, Johnjoe McFadden* and J Michael Sharp.  Moredun Research Institute and *University of Surrey

The molecular analysis of Mycobacterium bovis (MTB) DNA from a family of 18th Century Hungarians
Fletcher HA, Donoghue HD, Taylor  GM, van der Zander AGM and Spigelman M. Department of Medical Microbiology, UCL

Session 2

Inositol metabolism in mycobacteria: Genetic and structural studies
Neil Stoker and Farah Movahedzadeh, LSHTM

CD4+ and CD8+ T cells kill intracellular M. tuberculosis by a perforin and FAS/FASL independent mechanism
DH Canaday*, RJ Wilkinson¹*, Q Li*, CV Harding¹, RF Silver*, WH Boom*. ¹Wellcome Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, London.  *Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio.

What is the function of OmpATb, a pore-forming protein of M. tuberculosis?
Philip Draper, Catherine Raynaud, Jo Colston and Richard Speight (NIMR, Mill Hill)

Session 3

What is Mycobacterium microti? Analysis of genomic variation using microarrays
C Cunha Frota, M J Colston, L Rickman, D Hunt R Buxton, NIMR, Mill Hill.  P Butcher, J Hinds St George’s Medical School, London.  D Van Soolingen, RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

A family of autocrine growth factors in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
GV Mukamolova, OA Turapov, DI Young, SL Hardy, AS Kaprelyants, DB Kell, M Young.  Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

How does M. tuberculosis ensure efficient transcription of ribosomal RNA?
Kristine Arnvig, B. Gopal, R A Cox, K G Papavinasasundaram, M J Colston. NIMR, Mill Hill, London

A large outbreak of tuberculosis in a Leicester school
D. Modha, P Monk, L Coole, G Bryant.  Dept of Public Health, Leicestershire Health Authority