Natalie Sontag

Successful host colonization by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) requires appropriate bacterial response to the variety of different signals within its microenvironment. Mtb responds to these environmental signals through the use of key regulators including two-component systems and serine threonine protein kinases (STPKs). While both regulatory systems have been studied independently, how they interact in the coordination of Mtb response to environmental cues in the host is not well understood. My project seeks to shed light on this interplay, to understand the conditions under which two-component systems and key STPKs interact and the consequences of perturbing such interactions on Mtb host colonization.