Publications associées à Vibrio cholerae filamentation promotes chitin surface attachment at the expense of competition in biofilms

Dangerous acquaintances: the interplay between type IV pili and the type VI secretion system during Vibrio cholerae's environmental lifestyle

Cholera, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has affected humanity throughout history and still impacts millions of people every year. Apart from being a human pathogen, V. cholerae is a common member of the aquatic environment. Due to this natural re ...

EPFL2024

Interactions between pili affect the outcome of bacterial competition driven by the type VI secretion system

Melanie Blokesch, Anne-Florence Raphaëlle Bitbol, Simon Bernhard Otto, Richard Marie Servajean, Alexandre Lemopoulos

The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a widespread, kin-discriminatory weapon capable of shaping microbial communities. Due to the system’s dependency on contact, cellular interactions can lead to either competition or kin protection. Cell-to-ce ...

2024

The microbial genomics of glacier-fed streams: adaptations to an extreme ecosystem

Massimo Bourquin

Glacier-fed streams are the cold, ultra-oligotrophic, and unstable streams that are fed by glacial meltwater. Despite these extreme conditions, they harbour a diverse and abundant microbial diversity that develops into biofilms, covering the boulders and s ...

EPFL2024

Diagenetic isotope exchange in biocalcites for paleoclimate reconstruction

Deyanira Graciela Cisneros Lazaro

The oxygen isotope compositions of fossil biocalcites, such as foraminifera, bivalves, brachiopods, and belemnites have allowed for reconstructions of sea surface and deep ocean temperatures throughout the Phanerozoic and constitute the most important reco ...

EPFL2024

Genome sequences of Vibrio cholerae strains isolated in the DRC between 2009 and 2012

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr, Alexandre Lemopoulos

Vibrio cholerae has caused seven cholera pandemics in the past two centuries. The seventh and ongoing pandemic has been particularly severe on the African continent. Here, we report long read-based genome sequences of six V. cholerae strains isolated in th ...

2024

Resolving bacterial cell biology: from replisome dynamics to cell wall synthesis

Chen Zhang

Bacteria are ubiquitous single cellular organisms. Compared to eukaryotic cells, bacteria have two unique characteristics: the membrane-less nucleoid and the cell wall built of peptidoglycan (PG). In most bacteria, a single circular chromosome is compacted ...

EPFL2024

Advancements in Nanomechanical Characterization and Biomolecular Imaging with Atomic force Microscopy

Veronika Cencen

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a widely used imaging tool for obtaining a variety of information for a range of samples. Although it was initially intended to serve as a method of observing very flat solid surfaces, its use expanded into several other fi ...

EPFL2024

Structure-function analysis of the cyclic β-1,2-glucan synthase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Henning Paul-Julius Stahlberg, Dongchun Ni

The synthesis of complex sugars is a key aspect of microbial biology. Cyclic beta-1,2-glucan (C beta G) is a circular polysaccharide critical for host interactions of many bacteria, including major pathogens of humans (Brucella) and plants (Agrobacterium). ...

Nature Portfolio2024

From roots to canopy: Unraveling the influence of species diversity on tree water relations under warmer and drier climates

Eugénie Isabelle Mas

The worsening of drought events with rising air temperature alters tree water relations causing severe hydraulic impairments and widespread forest mortality. Mixing tree species with contrasting hydraulic traits could reduce forest vulnerability to extreme ...

EPFL2024

Biofilm formation on human immune cells is a multicellular predation strategy of Vibrio cholerae

Alexandre Louis André Persat, Sofya Mikhaleva

Biofilm formation is generally recognized as a bacterial defense mechanism against environmental threats, including antibiotics, bacteriophages, and leukocytes of the human immune system. Here, we show that for the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, biofilm f ...

CELL PRESS2023

Biofilm morphogenesis on soft hydrogels

Alice Cont

Bacteria often colonize their environment in the form of surface attached multicellular communities called biofilms. Biofilms grow from surface-attached cells that undergo division while self-embedding in a viscoelastic matrix. Biofilms grow at the surface ...

EPFL2023

Material Substrate Physical Properties Control Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Architecture

Alice Cont, Alexandre Louis André Persat

The biofilm lifestyle is the most widespread survival strategy in the bacterial world. Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms cause chronic infections and are highly recalcitrant to antimicrobials. The genetic requirements allowing P. aeruginosa to grow into biof ...

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY2023

Sporadic type VI secretion in seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Lisa Christina Metzger, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr, Sandrine Natacha Isaac, Nicolas René Chiaruttini, Alexis Joseph Proutière, Loriane Bader

Vibrio cholerae is a pathogen that causes disease in millions of people every year by colonizing the small intestine and then secreting the potent cholera toxin. How the pathogen overcomes the colonization barrier created by the host’s natural microbiota i ...

2023

The biofilm ecology of proglacial floodplain streams

Jade Brandani

Glacial forelands figure among the most dynamic landscapes on Earth, and their formation is currently accelerating given glacier shrinkage. Draining these forelands are streams hosting unique microbial communities, which have the capacity to impact both th ...

EPFL2023

Interspecies interactions determine growth dynamics of biopolymer- degrading populations in microbial communities

Martin Ackermann

Microbial communities perform essential ecosystem functions such as the remineralization of organic carbon that exists as biopolymers. The first step in mineralization is performed by biopolymer degraders, which harbor enzymes that can break down polymers ...

National Academy of Sciences2023

What happens to biomass burning-emitted particles in the ocean? A laboratory experimental approach based on their tracers

Christos Panagiotopoulos

Wildfires, controlled burns, and biofuel combustion (biomass burning or BB) are major contributors to particulate matter in the atmosphere and thus have an impact on climate, human health, and ecosystems. Once emitted, the particulate matter derived from B ...

Elsevier2023

Time-Resolved Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy and Single-Molecule Spectroscopy

Samuel Mendes Leitão

The evolution of the 3D morphology is at the center of many relevant biological processes ranging from cellular differentiation to cancer invasion and metastasis. Microscopy techniques, such as electron microscopy (EM), super-resolution (SR) optical micros ...

EPFL2023

Archaeal type IV pili stabilize Haloferax volcanii biofilms in flow

Lorenzo Anton-Louis Talà, Pascal Damian Odermatt, Alexandre Louis André Persat

Multicellular communities of contiguous cells attached to solid surfaces called biofilms represent a common microbial strategy to improve resilience in adverse environments.1-3 While bacterial biofilms have been under intense investigation, whether archaea ...

Cell Press2023

Multi-campaign ship and aircraft observations of marine cloud condensation nuclei and droplet concentrations

Jian Wang, Athanasios Nenes

In-situ marine cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNCs), cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and CCN proxies, based on particle sizes and optical properties, are accumulated from seven field campaigns: ACTIVATE; NAAMES; CAMP(2)EX; ORACLES; SOCRATES; MARCUS ...

NATURE PORTFOLIO2023

Simple optical nanomotion method for single-bacterium viability and antibiotic response testing

Sandor Kasas, María Inés Villalba, Allan Bonvallat, Eugenia Rossetti

Antibiotic resistance is nowadays a major public health issue. Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility tests (AST) are one of the options to fight this deadly threat. Performing AST with single-cell sensitivity that is rapid, cheap, and widely accessible, is ch ...

National Academy of Sciences2023