Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Billman-Jacobe Laboratory

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Research Interests

Several species of mycobacteria commonly cause human disease. The major pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, causes millions of deaths annually worldwide. These bacteria have complex lipid-rich cell walls that provide a defence against host immune mechanisms and renders them intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics.

Our research is aimed at elucidating the pathways that lead to the biosynthesis of some of the major components of the mycobacterial cell wall. The longer-term view is to identify key enzymes in these pathways that may be potential targets for the development of new antimycobacterial drugs.

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Laboratory Staff

Dr Ruth Haites
Mr Benjamin McMillan
Ms Chinn Wong

Recent Publications

  1. Haites RE, Morita YS, McConville MJ, Billman-Jacobe H. Function of phosphatidylinositol in mycobacteria. J Biol Chem 2005; 280(12): 10981-7.
  2. Olsen I, Johansen TB, Billman-Jacobe H, Nilsen SF, Djonne B. A novel IS element, ISMpa1, in Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Vet Microbiol 2004; 98(3-4): 297-306.
  3. Morita YS, Patterson JH, Billman-Jacobe H, McConville MJ. Biosynthesis of mycobacterial phosphatidylinositol mannosides. Biochem J 2004; 378(Pt 2): 589-97.
  4. Jeevarajah D, Patterson JH, Taig E, Sargeant T, McConville MJ, Billman-Jacobe H. Methylation of GPLs in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium avium. J Bacteriol 2004; 186(20): 6792-9.
  5. Rawat M, Kovacevic S, Billman-Jacobe H, Av-Gay Y. Inactivation of mshB, a key gene in the mycothiol biosynthesis pathway in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Microbiology 2003; 149(Pt 5): 1341-9.
  6. Patterson JH, Waller RF, Jeevarajah D, Billman-Jacobe H, McConville MJ. Mannose metabolism is required for mycobacterial growth. Biochem J 2003; 372(Pt 1): 77-86.
  7. Jeevarajah D, Patterson JH, McConville MJ, Billman-Jacobe H. Modification of glycopeptidolipids by an O-methyltransferase of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Microbiology 2002; 148(Pt 10): 3079-87.
  8. Etienne G, Villeneuve C, Billman-Jacobe H, Astarie-Dequeker C, Dupont MA, Daffe M. The impact of the absence of glycopeptidolipids on the ultrastructure, cell surface and cell wall properties, and phagocytosis of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Microbiology 2002; 148(Pt 10): 3089-100.
  9. Weisman S, Wang L, Billman-Jacobe H, Nhan DH, Richie TL, Coppel RL. Antibody responses to infections with strains of Plasmodium falciparum expressing diverse forms of merozoite surface protein 2. Infect Immun 2001; 69(2): 959-67.
  10. Patterson JH, McConville MJ, Haites RE, Coppel RL, Billman-Jacobe H. Identification of a methyltransferase from Mycobacterium smegmatis involved in glycopeptidolipid synthesis. J Biol Chem 2000; 275(32): 24900-6.
  11. Kansiz M, Billman-Jacobe H, McNaughton D. Quantitative determination of the biodegradable polymer Poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate) in a recombinant Escherichia coli strain by use of mid-infrared spectroscopy and multivariative statistics. Appl Environ Microbiol 2000; 66(8): 3415-20.
  12. Eisen DP, Marshall VM, Billman-Jacobe H, Coppel RL. A Plasmodium falciparum apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) gene apparently generated by intragenic recombination. Mol Biochem Parasitol 1999; 100(2): 243-6.
  13. Billman-Jacobe H, McConville MJ, Haites RE, Kovacevic S, Coppel RL. Identification of a peptide synthetase involved in the biosynthesis of glycopeptidolipids of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Mol Microbiol 1999; 33(6): 1244-53.
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  14. Billman-Jacobe H, Haites RE, Coppel RL. Characterization of a Mycobacterium smegmatis mutant lacking penicillin binding protein 1. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1999; 43(12): 3011-3.
  15. Eisen D, Billman-Jacobe H, Marshall VF, Fryauff D, Coppel RL. Temporal variation of the merozoite surface protein-2 gene of Plasmodium falciparum. Infect Immun 1998; 66(1): 239-46.
  16. Billman-Jacobe H. Expression in bacteria other than Escherichia coli. Curr Opin Biotechnol 1996; 7(5): 500-4.
  17. Billman-Jacobe H, Sloan J, Coppel RL. Analysis of isoniazid-resistant transposon mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis. FEMS Microbiol Lett 1996; 144(1): 47-52.
  18. Billman-Jacobe H, Wang L, Kortt A, Stewart D, Radford A. Expression and secretion of heterologous proteases by Corynebacterium glutamicum. Appl Environ Microbiol 1995; 61(4): 1610-3.
  19. Roche PW, Triccas JA, Avery DT, Fifis T, Billman-Jacobe H, Britton WJ. Differential T cell responses to mycobacteria-secreted proteins distinguish vaccination with bacille Calmette-Guerin from infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Infect Dis 1994; 170(5): 1326-30.
  20. Roche PW, Peake PW, Billman-Jacobe H, Doran T, Britton WJ. T-cell determinants and antibody binding sites on the major mycobacterial secretory protein MPB59 of Mycobacterium bovis. Infect Immun 1994; 62(12): 5319-26.
  21. Collins DM, Radford AJ, de Lisle GW, Billman-Jacobe H. Diagnosis and epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis using molecular biological approaches. Vet Microbiol 1994; 40(1-2): 83-94.
  22. Billman-Jacobe H. Nucleotide sequence of a recA gene from Corynebacterium glutamicum. DNA Seq 1994; 4(6): 403-4.
  23. Billman-Jacobe H, Hodgson AL, Lightowlers M, Wood PR, Radford AJ. Expression of ovine gamma interferon in Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum. Appl Environ Microbiol 1994; 60(5): 1641-5.
  24. Billman-Jacobe H, Carrigan M, Cockram F, Corner LA, Gill IJ, Hill JF, Jessep T, Milner AR, Wood PR. A comparison of the interferon gamma assay with the absorbed ELISA for the diagnosis of Johne's disease in cattle. Aust Vet J 1992; 69(2): 25-8.
  25. Radford AJ, Wood PR, Billman-Jacobe H, Geysen HM, Mason TJ, Tribbick G. Epitope mapping of the Mycobacterium bovis secretory protein MPB70 using overlapping peptide analysis. J Gen Microbiol 1990; 136(2): 265-72.
  26. Billman-Jacobe H, Radford AJ, Rothel JS, Wood PR. Mapping of the T and B cell epitopes of the Mycobacterium bovis protein, MPB70. Immunol Cell Biol 1990; 68 ( Pt 6): 359-65.