USMUniversity of Southern Mississippi · Biology
Rijal Lab
Ramesh Rijal · Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Research Focus
Dr. Ramesh Rijal's lab at the University of Southern Mississippi focuses on understanding how the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis survives antibiotic treatment. His research specifically investigates a molecule called extracellular polyphosphate, which Mtb uses to help tolerate stress from antibiotics. By exploring the metabolic pathways involved, the lab aims to find new strategies to make these drug-resistant bacteria more susceptible to treatment.
Mycobacterium tuberculosisantibiotic toleranceextracellular polyphosphatedrug resistancetuberculosismetabolic pathwaysantibiotic treatmenthost-pathogen interactiontherapeutic targeting
Research Aims
4AIM 01Investigate the metabolic pathways in Mtb that regulate extracellular polyP during antibiotic tolerance.
AIM 02Determine the impact of knocking down genes related to polyP regulation on Mtb growth and metabolism.
AIM 03Examine the role of extracellular polyP in protecting Mtb against different antibiotics.
AIM 04Identify therapeutic strategies to target extracellular polyP for improved treatment efficacy.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturegene expression analysisPCRWestern blotmetabolic pathway analysisin vitro assaysantibiotic susceptibility testingBacterial genetics techniquesmicroscopy
Output against the department
Publications29bottom 3% of dept.992nd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations228bottom 1% of dept.1,023rd of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.