Mycolic acid is an acid known for protecting the cell bodies of mycobacterium, which include tuberculosis. The Mycolic acid chains are very long and have about 50-90 carbon atoms in each chain. Species see text Mycobacterium is the a genus of actinobacteria, given its own family, the Mycobacteriaceae. ... Tuberculosis (commonly shortened to TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ...
Isoniazid (isonicotinic acid hydrazide) and thiolactomycin are involved in the elongation cycle of mycolicacids and the detailed mechanisms of action of these drugs are being studied.
The translocation of mycolicacids into the cell walls of mycobacteria is being studied by designing inhibitors and substrates of the key antigen-85 tranferase.
Gernaey, A.M., Minnikin, D.E., Copley, M.S., Dixon, R.A., Middleton, J.C. and Roberts C.A. (2001) Mycolicacids and ancient DNA confirm an osteological diagnosis of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis 81: 259-265.
If mycolicacid was primarily described as a single component, now it form a broad family of over 500 species which form the major component of the cell wall of Actinomycetes forming a distinct suprageneric taxon that encompasses the genera Mycobacterium, Gordona, Nocardia and Rhodococcus.
By pyrolytic cleavage (300°C), the intact fatty acid released is referred to as the alpha branch, the aldehyde released is referred to as the meromycolate branch.
Mycolicacids have been involved in maintaining a rigid cell shape but also they contribute to the resistance to chemical injury and to the protection of cells against hydrophobic antibiotics (Isoniazid which inhibit mycolicacid biosynthesis are efficient antimycobacterial agents).
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