Iron deprivation enhances transcriptional responses to growth arrest of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The establishment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) long-term infection in vivo depends on several factors, one of which is bacterial availability of key nutrients such as iron. The relation between Fe deprivation inside the granuloma and the capacity of Mtb to accumulate lipids and persist in the absence of growth is not well understood. In this context, current knowledge of how Mtb modifies its lipid composition in response to iron starvation is scarce. Overall design: In this work we have compared genome-wide transcriptomic and lipidomic profiles of Mtb at exponential and stationary growth phases using axenic cultures with glycerol as a carbon source, in the presence or absence of iron.