Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis , a bacillus that is currently killing at least two million people a year. TB can be quite infectious and can be passed through the air via coughing. The emergence of multiple drug resistant bacteria has made treatment even more difficult. While most healthy adults can manage the acute infection with a healthy immune system , M. tuberculosis has the capacity to 'hide' - i.e. to become latent. M. tuberculosis invades the lung via macrophages and the molecular basis for its latency, which appears to coincide with the development of ann immune response, is still unclear.
Latency can last for decades.
Two of five enzymes in the glyoxylate cycle are unique. Acetyl coA is condensed with OAA to make citrate, then isomerized to make isocitrate. Isocitrate , which in the Kreb's cycle would undergo oxidative decarboxylation to become alpha-ketoglutarate, is split into glyoxylate and succinate in the glyoxylate cycle by isocitrate lyase. It has the very attractive feature of being bacterium-specific. Specific inhibitors would presumably not have side effects for the host.