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Concept

Natural competence

Related publications (29)

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

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

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

DNA modifications impact natural transformation of Acinetobacter baumannii

Melanie Blokesch, Nicolas Jean Philippe Guex, Christian Iseli, Alexandre Lemopoulos, Nina Vesel

Acinetobacter baumannii is a dangerous nosocomial pathogen, especially due to its ability to rapidly acquire new genetic traits, including antibiotic resistance genes (ARG). In A. baumannii, natural competence for transformation, one of the primary modes o ...

2023

Natural competence of the pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii: an elusive phenomenon

Nina Vesel

Natural competence for transformation is an important driver of horizontal DNA exchange between different organisms. This can result in accumulation of dangerous genetic features, such as antibiotic resistance genes, in a single organism. One example of an ...

EPFL2022

Benthic Biofilms in Glacier-Fed Streams from Scandinavia to the Himalayas Host Distinct Bacterial Communities Compared with the Streamwater

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter, Tyler Joe Kohler, Susheel Bhanu Busi, Grégoire Marie Octave Edouard Michoud, Stylianos Fodelianakis, Massimo Bourquin, Leïla Ezzat, Jade Brandani, Paraskevi Pramateftaki, Matteo Tolosano, Vincent Henri De Staercke, Michail Styllas, Martina Andrea Schön, Virginia Tadei, Emmy Marie Oppliger

Microbial life in glacier-fed streams (GFSs) is dominated by benthic biofilms which fulfill critical ecosystem processes. However, it remains unclear how the bacterial communities of these biofilms assemble in stream ecosystems characterized by rapid turno ...

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY2022

Pilus production in Acinetobacter baumannii is growth phase dependent and essential for natural transformation

Melanie Blokesch, Nina Vesel

Acinetobacter baumannii is a severe threat to human health as a frequently multidrug-resistant hospital-acquired pathogen. Part of the danger from this bacterium comes from its genome plasticity and ability to evolve quickly by taking up and recombining ex ...

American Society for Microbiology2021

Emergence of diauxie as an optimal growth strategy under resource allocation constraints in cellular metabolism

Vassily Hatzimanikatis, Pierre Guy Rémy Salvy

Diauxie, or the sequential consumption of carbohydrates in bacteria such as Escherichia coli, has been hypothesized to be an evolutionary strategy which allows the organism to maximize its instantaneous specific growth-giving the bacterium a competitive ad ...

National Academy of Sciences2021

Two nanomachines drive evolution in diverse Vibrio species

Noémie Matthey

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has a major impact on bacterial evolution, leading to acquisition or deletion of genes and gene clusters, including those encoding antibiotic resistances and virulence factors. HGT therefore contributes to pathogen emergence, ...

EPFL2019

Neighbor predation linked to natural competence fosters the transfer of large genomic regions in Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Nicolas Jean Philippe Guex, Christian Iseli, Sandrine Stutzmann, Noémie Matthey, Candice Stoudmann

Natural competence for transformation is a primary mode of horizontal gene transfer. Competent bacteria are able to absorb free DNA from their surroundings and exchange this DNA against pieces of their own genome when sufficiently homologous. However, the ...

2019

Mechanisms of DNA Uptake by Naturally Competent Bacteria

Melanie Blokesch

Transformation is a widespread mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria. DNA uptake to the periplasmic compartment requires a DNA-uptake pilus and the DNA-binding protein ComEA. In the gram-negative bacteria, DNA is first pulled toward the outer m ...

2019

DNA-uptake pili of Vibrio cholerae are required for chitin colonization and capable of kin recognition via sequence-specific self-interaction

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Candice Stoudmann, David William Adams

How bacteria colonize surfaces and how they distinguish the individuals around them are fundamental biological questions. Type IV pili are a widespread and multipurpose class of cell surface polymers. Here we directly visualize the DNA-uptake pilus of Vibr ...

2019

The type IV pilus protein PilU functions as a PilT-dependent retraction ATPase

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Candice Stoudmann, David William Adams, Jorge André Matias Pereira

Type IV pili are dynamic cell surface appendages found throughout the bacteria. The ability of these structures to undergo repetitive cycles of extension and retraction underpins their crucial roles in adhesion, motility and natural competence for transfor ...

2019

Ecological implications of gene regulation by TfoX and TfoY among diverse Vibrio species

Melanie Blokesch, Candice Stoudmann, Noémie Matthey, Lisa Christina Metzger

Bacteria of the genus Vibrio are common members of aquatic environments where they compete with other prokaryotes and defend themselves against grazing predators. A macromolecular protein complex called the type VI secretion system (T6SS) is used for both ...

2019

Single-cell studies of Mycobacterium smegmatis cell cycle using time-lapse fluorescence microscopy

Joëlle Xiao Yuan Ven

Cell division is one of the most primordial cellular processes and is essential for life propagation. It is composed of crucial events, namely genome duplication, chromosomes segregation and membrane separation. Failure of these processes will have dramati ...

EPFL2019

Motility as a tool to uncover mobility practices

Vincent Kaufmann, Guillaume Simon Joseph Drevon, Alexis Gumy, Eloi Antoine Maël Bernier

This paper investigate the causal relationships that exist between the motility, defined as the personal ability to be mobile (Kaufmann et al., 2015), and mobility behaviors. To do so, we use the first wave (2018) of the "national daily mobility panel" sur ...

2019

Interbacterial predation as a strategy for DNA acquisition in naturally competent bacteria

Melanie Blokesch

Natural competence enables bacteria to take up exogenous DNA. The evolutionary function of natural competence remains controversial, as imported DNA can act as a source of substrates or can be integrated into the genome. Exogenous homologous DNA can also b ...

Nature Publishing Group2017

In and out—contribution of natural transformation to the shuffling of large genomic regions

Melanie Blokesch

Naturally competent bacteria can pull free DNA from their surroundings. This incoming DNA can serve various purposes, ranging from acting as a source of nutrients or DNA stretches for repair to the acquisition of novel genetic information. The latter proce ...

Elsevier2017

Independent Regulation of Type VI Secretion in Vibrio cholerae by TfoX and TfoY

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Noémie Matthey, Lisa Christina Metzger, Charles Ulric V Van der Henst

Type VI secretion systems (T6SSs) are nanomachines used for interbacterial killing and intoxication of eukaryotes. Although Vibrio cholerae is a model organism for structural studies on T6SSs, the underlying regulatory network is less understood. A recent ...

Elsevier2016

Regulation of competence-mediated horizontal gene transfer in the natural habitat of Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Lisa Christina Metzger

The human pathogen Vibrio cholerae is an autochthonous inhabitant of aquatic environments where it often interacts with zooplankton and their chitinous molts. Chitin induces natural competence for transformation in V. cholerae, a key mode of horizontal gen ...

Elsevier2016

Natural competence for transformation

Melanie Blokesch

While most molecular biologists are familiar with the artificial transformation of bacteria in the context of laboratory cloning experiments, natural competence for transformation refers to a specific physiological state in which prokaryotes are able to ta ...

2016

The DNA-Uptake Process of Naturally Competent Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Noémie Matthey

The sophisticated DNA-uptake machinery used during natural transformation is still poorly characterized, especially in Gram-negative bacteria where the transforming DNA has to cross two membranes as well as the peptidoglycan layer before entering into the ...

Elsevier2016