Publications by Melanie Blokesch

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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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

The human pathogen Vibrio cholerae serves as a model organism for many important processes ranging from pathogenesis to natural transformation, which has been extensively studied in this bacterium. Previous work has deciphered important regulatory circuits ...

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 ...

Several methods are available to manipulate bacterial chromosomes(1-3). Most of these protocols rely on the insertion of conditionally replicative plasmids (e.g. harboring pir-dependent or temperature-sensitive replicons(1,2)). These plasmids are integrate ...

Melanie Blokesch

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Mechanisms of DNA Uptake by Naturally Competent Bacteria

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

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

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

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

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

DNA modifications impact natural transformation of Acinetobacter baumannii

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

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

Probing the size of proteins with glass nanopores

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

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

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

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

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

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

DNA-uptake machinery of naturally competent Vibrio cholerae

Comparison of chitin‐induced natural transformation in pandemic Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor strains

Sporadic type VI secretion in seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae

TransFLP - A Method to Genetically Modify Vibrio cholerae Based on Natural Transformation and FLP-recombination