Elizabeth Billings

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains a leading cause of death from infectious diseases worldwide, in part due to its marked ability to adapt to heterogeneous environments for host colonization. Environmental signals in the host that are sensed by the bacterium include cues such as acidic pH, high chloride, hypoxia, and low potassium. At the same time, successful host adaptation by Mtb requires appropriate adjustment of its metabolism. My project aims to investigate how the response of Mtb to its local environment is integrated with changes to its metabolism. Further, I plan to investigate how this environmental cue-metabolism integration may be linked to local spatial differences in Mtb growth during infection.