Purification Of Endogenous Arabinase From Mycobacterium Smegmatis And Cloning And Expression Of Candidate Genes Of Endogenous Arabinase

Tuberculosis(TB), an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tnberculosis{M. tuberculosis), has emanated as a worldwide problem. The use or misuse of anti-TB agents over the years has led to an increasing prevalence of multiple-drug resistant(MDR) strains. HIV pandemic has provided a large reservoir of highly susceptible individuals. The global health problem is being exacerbated by troubles above. So newer and more efficient anti-TB drugs are urgently needed.The major components of the Mycobacterial cell wall and their metabolic pathways are holding promise for the exploiture of new anti-TB drugs because of the unique structure of Mycobacterial cell wall. The cell envelope of Mycobacteria is made up of three major components: peptidoglycan, arabinogalactan (AG) and mycolic acid from inner to outside. The arabinan of AG is essential for cell wall integrity and bacterial viability in respect that it provides the anchoring point for mycolic acid layer and links it to peptidogalacan via galactan chain. Thus the arabinan is an important potential drug target.Ethambutol (EMB), an important anti-TB drug, is known to inhibit the synthesis of the arabinan of Mycobacterium targeting EmbB which is a possible arabinosyl transferase. Recently it was shown that the arabinosyl residues were removed from AG and lipoarabinomannan of the cell wall in the presence of EMB in the culture...