Summary
Bacteria are fascinating organism, relatively and yet not fully understood. Fundamental research on bacteria led across the years to major technological breakthroughs like the discovery of genetic editing with CRISPR-Cas9. Besides, resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is becoming a growing public health concern, raising the need for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved. We propose here to further our understanding of the molecular biology of bacteria by studying the dynamic of lipids in bacterial (B. Subtilis) membranes. In eukaryotic cells, it was found that lipid dynamics can reveal the micro- and nanoscale organisation of the plasma membrane, revealing a dynamic interplay between membrane components such as lipids, membrane proteins, and the actin cytoskeleton. Bacterial membranes were thought until recently to be much simpler, but accumulating evidence over the last ten years suggested that they too were highly heterogeneous and dynamic. However, very few studies so far focused on the question of lipid dynamics, in part because of the experimental complexity of such measurements. To address this, we will transfer new technologies based on fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), that were developed mainly for eukaryotic research, to the field of microbiology. With this unique methodology, we will answer a series of fundamental open questions: how do bacterial membranes organise at the nanoscale? Do they exhibit transient lipid-mediated interactions (called lipid rafts) as is thought to be the case in eukaryotes? Does MreB, bacterial equivalent of actin, also compartmentalises lipid diffusion? Answering these questions will help us build a holistic picture of the mechanisms associated with essential bacterial processes such as biofilm formation or antibiotic resistance, which will have far-reaching implications in both biology and medicine.
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| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101030628 |
| Start date: | 01-09-2021 |
| End date: | 31-08-2023 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 184 707,84 Euro - 184 707,00 Euro |
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Original description
Bacteria are fascinating organism, relatively and yet not fully understood. Fundamental research on bacteria led across the years to major technological breakthroughs like the discovery of genetic editing with CRISPR-Cas9. Besides, resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is becoming a growing public health concern, raising the need for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved. We propose here to further our understanding of the molecular biology of bacteria by studying the dynamic of lipids in bacterial (B. Subtilis) membranes. In eukaryotic cells, it was found that lipid dynamics can reveal the micro- and nanoscale organisation of the plasma membrane, revealing a dynamic interplay between membrane components such as lipids, membrane proteins, and the actin cytoskeleton. Bacterial membranes were thought until recently to be much simpler, but accumulating evidence over the last ten years suggested that they too were highly heterogeneous and dynamic. However, very few studies so far focused on the question of lipid dynamics, in part because of the experimental complexity of such measurements. To address this, we will transfer new technologies based on fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), that were developed mainly for eukaryotic research, to the field of microbiology. With this unique methodology, we will answer a series of fundamental open questions: how do bacterial membranes organise at the nanoscale? Do they exhibit transient lipid-mediated interactions (called lipid rafts) as is thought to be the case in eukaryotes? Does MreB, bacterial equivalent of actin, also compartmentalises lipid diffusion? Answering these questions will help us build a holistic picture of the mechanisms associated with essential bacterial processes such as biofilm formation or antibiotic resistance, which will have far-reaching implications in both biology and medicine.Status
CLOSEDCall topic
MSCA-IF-2020Update Date
28-04-2024
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