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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Analysis of the Lipid Composition of Mycobacteria by Thin Layer Chromatography
Published on: April 16, 2021
Multifaceted role of lipids in Mycobacterium leprae
Gurkamaljit Kaur1, Jagdeep Kaur2
1Research Scholar, Department of Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India.
Abstract:
Mycobacterium leprae must adopt a metabolic strategy and undergo various metabolic alterations upon infection to survive inside the human body for years in a dormant state. A change in lipid homeostasis upon infection is highly pronounced in Mycobacterium leprae. Lipids play an essential role in the survival and pathogenesis of mycobacteria. Lipids are present in several forms and serve multiple roles from being a source of nutrition, providing rigidity, evading the host immune response to serving as virulence factors, etc. The synthesis and degradation of lipids is a highly regulated process and is the key to future drug designing and diagnosis for mycobacteria. In the current review, an account of the distinct roles served by lipids, the mechanism of their synthesis and degradation has been elucidated.
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