Research topic
Presentation
Multiscale fundamental microbiology
The Microbiology teams aim to decipher the molecular processes at the basis of microbial life, from genomes to molecular machines and cell architecture in simple and complex cell communities. We are mainly focusing on bacteria, including major human pathogens (e.g., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycoplasma, Acinetobacter baumanii, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus…), archaea and organelles of proteobacterial origin. Such fundamental aspects of microbiology are investigated at the multiscale level with the objective of deciphering:
– The mechanisms of genome plasticity and evolution, including genome maintenance functions and horizontal gene transfer processes, and how they interface with the cell cycle.
– The gene and protein networks that promote cell adaptation to a wide range of environmental stress, including antimicrobial agents, via activation of signaling pathways that rely on gene regulation, RNA degradation, control of translation.
– The cellular remodeling mechanisms operated through proteostasis, membrane biogenesis and exchange with the extracellular environment, including metal ion utilization, protein transport and uptake of DNA and nutrients.
– The processes influencing the growth of microbes within their niches, including the collective behaviors of cell communities, cell-to-cell communication, phage defense mechanisms, and the molecular and cellular pathways that determine drug tolerance, resistance and persistence of bacteria.
To these aims, the Microbiology teams combine a wide range of state-of-the-art genetic, biochemical, biophysical, structural and cell biology approaches, including photonic, super-resolution and video microscopy of living bacteria. We develop quantitative approaches, including comparative phylogenomics, image analysis and large omics datasets. These analytical approaches are also combined with novel bioinformatic tools, physics-based and mathematical modelling.
