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Melanie Blokesch

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Related publications (61)

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Recombinant bacteria resistant to horizontal gene transfer and phage infection

Melanie Blokesch, David William Adams, Milena Jadwiga Jaskolska

The invention relates to an expression vector encoding a DNA defence system comprising polypeptides derived from Vibrio cholerae, or equivalent functional variants or homologues, conferring resistance to the maintenance of extra-genomic DNA to a recipient ...

2023

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

Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics Linked to Horizontal Gene Transfer in Vibrios

Melanie Blokesch

Vibrio is a genus of ubiquitous heterotrophic bacteria found in aquatic environments. Although they are a small percentage of the bacteria in these environments, vibrios can predominate during blooms. Vibrios also play important roles in the degradation of ...

2018

A transcriptional regulator linking quorum sensing and chitin induction to render Vibrio cholerae naturally transformable

Melanie Blokesch, Mirella Lo Scrudato

The human pathogen Vibrio cholerae is an aquatic bacterium associated with zooplankton and their chitinous exoskeletons. On chitinous surfaces, V. cholerae initiates a developmental programme, known as natural competence, to mediate transformation, which i ...

Oxford University Press2013

Glucose- but Not Rice-Based Oral Rehydration Therapy Enhances the Production of Virulence Determinants in the Human Pathogen Vibrio cholerae

Juliane Kühn, Andrea Rinaldo, Enrico Bertuzzo, Melanie Blokesch, Flavio Finger

Despite major attempts to prevent cholera transmission, millions of people worldwide still must address this devastating disease. Cholera research has so far mainly focused on the causative agent, the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, or on disease treatment, but ...

2014

Interbacterial competition and anti‐predatory behavior of environmental Vibrio cholerae strains

Melanie Blokesch, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr

Vibrio cholerae isolates responsible for cholera pandemics represent only a small portion of the diverse strains belonging to this species. Indeed, most V. cholerae are encountered in aquatic environments. To better understand the emergence of pandemic lin ...

2020

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

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

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

Cues and regulatory pathways involved in natural competence and transformation in pathogenic and environmental Gram-negative bacteria

Melanie Blokesch, Patrick Martin Seitz

Bacterial genomics is flourishing, as whole-genome sequencing has become affordable, readily available, and rapid. As a result, it has become clear how frequently horizontal gene transfer (HGT) occurs in bacteria. The potential implications are highly sign ...

Wiley-Blackwell2013

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

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

Human commensal gut Proteobacteria withstand type VI secretion attacks through immunity protein-independent mechanisms

Thibault Géry L Sana, Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Candice Stoudmann, Leonardo Filipe Lemos Rocha, Nina Vesel, Nicolas Olmo Flaugnatti, Sandrine Natacha Isaac

While the major virulence factors for Vibrio cholerae, the cause of the devastating diarrheal disease cholera, have been extensively studied, the initial intestinal colonization of the bacterium is not well understood because non-human adult animals are re ...

Nature Research2021

Probing the size of proteins with glass nanopores

Aleksandra Radenovic, Melanie Blokesch, Roman Bulushev, Lorenz Jan Steinbock, Lely Feletti

Single molecule studies using nanopores have gained attention due to the ability to sense single molecules in aqueous solution without the need to label them. In this study, short DNA molecules and proteins were detected with glass nanopores, whose sensiti ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2014

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

ComEA Is Essential for the Transfer of External DNA into the Periplasm in Naturally Transformable Vibrio cholerae Cells

Aleksandra Radenovic, Matteo Dal Peraro, Melanie Blokesch, Roman Bulushev, Lorenz Jan Steinbock, Patrick Martin Seitz, Hasan Pezeshgi Modarres

The DNA uptake of naturally competent bacteria has been attributed to the action of DNA uptake machineries resembling type IV pilus complexes. However, the protein(s) for pulling the DNA across the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria remain speculativ ...

Public Library Science2014

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

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

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

Single nucleotide polymorphism determines constitutive versus inducible type VI secretion in Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr, Milena Jadwiga Jaskolska, Loriane Bader, Alexis Joseph Proutière

Vibrio cholerae is a well-studied human pathogen that is also a common inhabitant of marine habitats. In both environments, the bacterium is subject to interbacterial competition. A molecular nanomachine that is often involved in such competitive behavior ...

2022

A quorum sensing-mediated switch contributes to natural transformation of Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch

There is a fundamental gap in our understanding of how horizontal gene transfer contributes to the enormous range of genetic variations that are observed among bacteria. The objective of our study was to better understand how the acquisition of genetic mat ...

2012

DNA-uptake machinery of naturally competent Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Patrick Martin Seitz

Natural competence for transformation is a mode of horizontal gene transfer that is commonly used by bacteria to take up DNA from their environment. As part of this developmental program, so-called competence genes, which encode the components of a DNA-upt ...

National Academy of Sciences2013