Research Interests

Detoxification of dyes by Actinomycetes


A second aspect of my research concerns the capacity of bacteria, in particular mycobacteria, as bioremediators of toxic dyes. Dyes and dye products are major pollutants that are often mutagenic and toxic to a wide range of organisms. Recently, stringent legislation has made it imperative that economically feasible methods be developed to detoxify triphenylmethane, azo, and anthraquinone dyes. It is well known that mycobacteria are able to detoxify the triphenylmethane dye malachite green, since this dye is added to the Middlebrook media used for culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We are using genetic tools such as transposon mutagenesis to understand the genetic basis of decolorization and degradation of malachite green in Mycobacterium smegmatis.