A team led by Avinash Bajaj develops a fluorescent probe to detect mycobacteria from human tissue samples. Lekha Bandopadhyay reports on this study.

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has explored a new approach to treat mycobacterial infections, which are becoming increasingly drug-resistant. They found that a cocktail of mycobacteriophages – viruses that infect mycobacteria but not humans– were effective against slow- and fast-growing mycobacteria, in cultures. This has clinical significance in treating tuberculosis (caused by M.tuberculosis, a slow-growing mycobacterium), which is of concern, especially in developing countries. In this article, Edna George reports on this recent study by Rachit Agarwal’s team.

The tuberculosis bacteria is notorious for its ability to stay dormant for years within the human body, evading the immune system and always one step away from causing aggressive infection. Now, a study from researchers at Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, and Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTech), Chandigarh, has investigated a novel molecular pathway that helps the bacteria avoid the notice of the immune system.

Tuberculosis is a common comorbidity in those infected with HIV/AIDS, and the two conditions are known to exacerbate one another. A new study from researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru demonstrates that Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the tuberculosis bacteria, can reactivate dormant HIV within the human body, a process that can potentially be targeted by specific drugs.

The gut microbiome of wild animals can provide a plethora of information related to animal health. However, studies looking at evolutionary and animal health-related issues through the lens of gut microbes are currently lacking in India. A recent study reveals the gut bacterial diversity of Indian Gaur and its domesticated form Mithun.

A new collaborative study by researchers at University of Calcutta and University of Kalyani has found that a close symbiotic relationship between three species - a plant, a fungus, and bacteria - can be harnessed to promote the growth of rice plants by allowing them to take up more nitrogen from the environment.

As the problem of antibiotic resistance mounts worldwide, there is a pressing need for identifying and testing novel drug targets. Recently, a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, and the Central Drug Research Institute (CSIR-CDRI), Lucknow, has identified a protein pathway in an antibiotic-resistant bacterial strain which can be targeted using a small molecule to effectively kill the bacteria.