Morphological changes in mycobacteria

Morphological variations at different stages and conditions of growth has been observed frequently in various mycobacteria. Despite years of research, the molecular basis of such variations is still not clear and requires further elucidation. Owing to the pathogenic significance of mycobacteria, currently, mycobacterial research emphasizes on understanding responses to oxygen deprivation, starvation, various antibiotic treatments, latency and dormancy. In this thesis, change in cell shape from rod to coccoid, occurrence of refractive spore-like phase grey, phase bright bodies and branching are some of the morphological variations discussed. Further, this thesis also discusses microaerobic condition (oxygen deprivation) and the localisation pattern of the stressosome complex.