Caleb Manu

Biography

My project aims to identify genes that protect Mycobacterium marinum from bacteriolysis in the macrophage cytoplasm, focusing on known virulence factors like ESX-1, CpnT, and Mas, as well as novel genes uncovered by a genome-wide transposon screen. It also develops an inducible lysis system to quantify the proportion of bacteria that are lysed versus those that survive in the host cytoplasm. Together, these studies will reveal how mycobacteria balance persistence and lysis during infection, providing new insights into their pathogenesis and potential therapeutic targets.