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Phage genomes evolve on a rapid time scale, so that this evolution can be observed under simple experimental set ups. I am particularly impressed and interested by the capacity of phages to recombine their DNA, a property that probably explains most of phage genome mosaicism. In the recent years, my researches have focused on the mechanisms of phage-encoded recombination systems, and their impact on phage evolution, using a combination of molecular biology and bio-informatics tools. In the future, the capacity of phages to catch –and may be even combine - new genes by recombination will be investigated, as well as the impact of this process on the emergence of new bacterial strains with improved fitness, or pathogenicity.

Main publications

Menouni R, Hutinet G, Petit MA, Ansaldi M. (2015) Bacterial genome remodeling through bacteriophage recombination. FEMS Microbiol Lett.  Jan;362(1):1-10.

Marianne De Paepe, Geoffrey Hutinet, Olivier Son, Jihane Amarir-Bouhram, Sophie Schbath and Marie-Agnès Petit (2014) Temperate phages acquire DNA from defective prophages by relaxed homologous recombination: the role of Rad52-like recombinases. PLoS Genet. 10(3):e1004181. doi: 10.1371.

Bacteriophages : an underestimated role in human and animal health ? (2014) Marianne De Paepe, Marion Leclerc, Colin R. Tinsley and Marie-Agnès Petit. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2014.00039

Automated classification of tailed bacteriophages according to their neck organization. Lopes A, Tavares P, Petit MA, Guérois R, Zinn-Justin S. BMC Genomics. (2014) 15:1027. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-1027.

Lopes A, Amarir-Bouhram J, Faure G., Petit MA, Guerois R (2010). Detection of novel recombinases in bacteriophage genomes unveils Rad52, Rad51 and Gp2.5 remote homologs. Nucleic Acid Res. 38, 3952-62

J. Martinsohn, M. Radman, M.-A. Petit(2008) The l Red proteins promote efficient recombination between diverged sequences: implications for bacteriophage genome mosaicism. PLoS Genet 4: e1000065.