Date of Award


Degree Type


Degree Name

Honors Thesis



First Advisor

Geoffrey C. Hoops


Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious respiratory disease contracted through the inhalation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Serine hydrolases are abundant in M. tuberculosis and serve as a model for studying the inhibition of TB. Rv0045c is an example of such with little known regarding its biological function. Rv0045c was exposed to methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, or glycerol and the effects of varying concentration of these alcohols on the catalytic efficiency and thermal stability of the enzyme was determined. The thermal stability of Rv0045c was found to decrease with concentration of methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol. The opposite was true of the thermal stability when exposed to increasing concentrations of glycerol. The effect of the alcohols on enzyme kinetics, however, were much less straightforward. Data suggests that a concentration of 10% alcohol by volume is optimal for catalytic activity.