mSphere of Influence: Combining Host and Pathogen Genetics To Disrupt Chronic Infections

Abstract

ABSTRACT Andrew J. Olive works in the field of host responses to chronic infections. In this mSphere of Influence article, he reflects on how “Tryptophan biosynthesis protects mycobacteria from CD4 T-cell-mediated killing” (Y. J. Zhang, M. C. Reddy, T. R. Ioerger, A. C. Rothchild, et al., Cell 155:1296–1308, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.10.045) impacted his own work using genetic approaches to dissect the interface between host and pathogen.

Keywords

• Mycobacterium
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• genetics
• immune evasion
• persistent infections
• transposon sequencing