The October 2020 Global TB report reviews TB control strategies and United Nations (UN) targets set in the political declaration at the September 2018 UN General Assembly high-level meeting on TB held in New York. Progress in TB care and prevention has been very slow. In 2019, TB remained the most common cause of death from a single infectious pathogen. Globally, an estimated 10.0 million people developed TB disease in 2019, and there were an estimated 1.2 million TB deaths among HIV-negative people and an additional 208, 000 deaths among people living with HIV. Adults accounted for 88% and children for 12% of people with TB. The WHO regions of South-East Asia (44%), Africa (25%), and the Western Pacific (18%) had the most people with TB. Eight countries accounted for two thirds of the global total: India (26%), Indonesia (8.5%), China (8.4%), the Philippines (6.0%), Pakistan (5.7%), Nigeria (4.4%), Bangladesh (3.6%) and South Africa (3.6%). Only 30% of the 3.5 million five-year target for children treated for TB was met. Major advances have been development of new all oral regimens for MDRTB and new regimens for preventive therapy. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic dislodged TB from the top infectious disease cause of mortality globally. Notably, global TB control efforts were not on track even before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many challenges remain to improve sub-optimal TB treatment and prevention services. Tuberculosis screening and diagnostic test services need to be ramped up. The major drivers of TB remain undernutrition, poverty, diabetes, tobacco smoking, and household air pollution and these need be addressed to achieve the WHO 2035 TB care and prevention targets. National programs need to include interventions for post-tuberculosis holistic wellbeing. From first detection of COVID-19 global coordination and political will with huge financial investments have led to the development of effective vaccines against SARS-CoV2 infection. The world now needs to similarly focus on development of new vaccines for TB utilizing new technological methods.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb) is the causative agent of human tuberculosis (TB) which primarily infects the macrophages. Nearly a quarter of the world’s population is infected latently byMtb. Only around 5%–10% of those infected develop active TB disease, particularly during suppressed host immune conditions or comorbidity such as HIV, hinting toward the heterogeneity ofMtbinfection. The aerosolizedMtbfirst reaches the lungs, and the resident alveolar macrophages (AMs) are among the first cells to encounter theMtbinfection. Evidence suggests that early clearance ofMtbinfection is associated with robust innate immune responses in resident macrophages. In addition to lung-resident macrophage subsets, the recruited monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) have been suggested to have a protective role duringMtbinfection.Mtb, by virtue of its unique cell surface lipids and secreted protein effectors, can evade killing by the innate immune cells and preferentially establish a niche within the AMs. Continuous efforts to delineate the determinants of host defense mechanisms have brought to the center stage the crucial role of macrophage phenotypical variations for functional adaptations in TB. The morphological and functional heterogeneity and plasticity of the macrophages aid in confining the dissemination ofMtb.However, during a suppressed or hyperactivated immune state, theMtbvirulence factors can affect macrophage homeostasis which may skew to favor pathogen growth, causing active TB. This mini-review is aimed at summarizing the interplay ofMtbpathomechanisms in the macrophages and the implications of macrophage heterogeneity and plasticity duringMtbinfection.

The pathophysiological functions of proline-glutamic acid (PE)/proline-proline-glutamic acid (PPE) family of proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are not well understood. In this study, we demonstrate that one of the PPE proteins, PPE18 can stimulate macrophages to secrete IL-10, known to favor a Th2 type response. The recombinant PPE18 was found to specifically interact with the TLR2 leading to an early and sustained activation of p38 MAPK, which is critical for IL-10 induction. In silico docking analyses and mutation experiments indicate that PPE18 specifically interacts with the leucine rich repeat 11∼15 domain of TLR2 and the site of interaction is different from that of a synthetic lipopeptide Pam₃CSK₄ known to activate predominantly ERK 1/2. When PMA-differentiated THP-1 macrophages were infected with a mutant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain lacking the PPE18, produced poorer levels of IL-10 as compared with those infected with the wild-type strain. In contrast, an M. smegmatis strain overexpressing the PPE18 induced higher levels of IL-10 in infected macrophages. Our data indicate that the PPE18 protein may trigger an anti-inflammatory response by inducing IL-10 production.

The objective of the present study was to make use of efficient molecular marker systems to reveal genetic relationships in traditional and evolved Basmati (EB) and semidwarf non-Basmati (NB) rice varieties. A subset of three rice groups was analyzed by using 19 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci and 12 inter-SSR-PCR primers. A total of 70 SSR alleles and 481 inter-SSR-PCR markers were revealed in 24 varieties from the three groups. The lowest genetic diversity was observed among the traditional Basmati varieties, whereas the EB varieties showed the highest genetic diversity by both the marker assays. The results indicated that the subset of aromatic rice varieties analyzed in the present study is probably derived from a single land race. The traditional Basmati (TB) and semidwarf NB rice varieties used in the present study were clearly delineated by both marker assays. A number of markers, which could unambiguously distinguish the TB varieties used in the present study from the evolved and NB rice varieties, were identified. The potential use of these markers in Basmati rice-breeding programs and authentication of TB varieties used in the present study are envisaged.