Antibiotic resistance: towards drugs to disarm bacteria
A new strategy to combat antibiotic resistance A consortium of researchers with multidisciplinary skills, coordinated by INRAE and including the CNRS, the Université Paris-Saclay and Inserm, has identified a molecule capable of “disarming” pathogenic bacteria in the face of the immune system, without any negative effects on the host microbiota. These results, already patented and […]
Identification of Gut Biomarkers of FPIES (Food protein induced enterocolitis syndrome) in a Longitudinal Comparative Pediatric Study
Anais Lemoine, a paediatrician at APHP’s Trousseau hospital, did her PhD at Micalis, in the Probihôte team. This study is the result of collaboration with clinicians from the APHP at Trousseau and Pitié-Salpétrière hospitals and two INRAE laboratories at UPSaclay (Micalis and MTS/LIAA). Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is a non-IgE-mediated allergy without known biomarkers. […]
Phage-mediated intercellular CRISPRi for biocomputation in bacterial consortia
In the field of Synthetic Biology, biological systems are engineered to sense inputs and respond in a programmed manner, a process called biological computing. Traditional biocomputing faces limitations due to the resource burden on single engineered cells, restricting the amount of foreign DNA they can simultaneously express. A recent solution, distributed biological computing, involves using […]
FabT, a Streptococcus pyogenes membrane lipid regulator that flips the switch between bacterial sur-vival and virulence
The pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus; GAS) causes severe infections with long-term sequellae. GAS infections account for 517,000 deaths annually worldwide. The research teams at the Cochin Institute (Bactéries et périnatalité; INSERM and CNRS) and at Micalis Institute (MicrobAdapt, INRAE) were intrigued by the presence of variants that emerged during experimental infections in primates, […]
Aquatic environment drives the emergence of cell wall-deficient dormant forms in Listeria
Bacteria can respond to environmental stresses by entering a dormant state called viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. VBNC bacteria lose the ability to grow in routine culture media. Pathogens entering a VBNC state pose a significantly risk for human and animal health, as they are not detected by standard growth-based techniques, and can “wake up” […]
A method for the quantification of membrane fluidity in bacteria
Membrane fluidity is a critical element in bacterial phenotype: it is the parameter that governs the rate of diffusion of membrane proteins. The fluidity of a membrane is modulated by the physical parameters of its environment, first and foremost by temperature: when the temperature drops, so does the fluidity of a membrane. In response to […]
Organisation of MreB protein protofilaments in Gram-positive bacteria
First observation by electron microscopy of pairs of organised protofilaments and first three-dimensional structure of the bacterial homologue of MreB actin from a Gram-positive bacterium Research into eukaryotic actin has historically focused on elucidating structure-function relationships from in vitro studies. However, purification of the prokaryotic actin MreB has proved particularly difficult, thwarting efforts to carry […]