The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria blocks many antibiotics. Our latest work reveals that L-type pyocins bypass this barrier by inactivating the BAM complex, killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa without entering the cell, providing a new blueprint for beating antibiotic resistance.

🚨👉 Please check our recent work on bacterial cell division. In situ Cryo-ET reveals the cellular function of the penicillin binding protein 1b supported by AFM, live-cell imaging, in silico AlphaFold proteome screen and TIRFM. Hope you enjoy the read! #teamtomo #cryo-ET ❄️🔬🐎 big thanks to the team!

Peptidoglycan turnover promotes active transport of protein through the bacterial cell wall https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.12.675941v1

Uropathogenic #Ecoli #UPEC proliferate as round coccoid cells during intracellular infection; @alaskapokhrel.bsky.social @bill-lab.bsky.social &co show that accelerated division via FtsZ constriction drives this, the coccobacillus form persisting for generations @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4gdx97i

Architecture of a peptidoglycan peptidase complex involved in morphological transition in Helicobacter pylori. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.29.672660v1

Robust antibiotic sensitization of pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa via negative hysteresis in the cell envelope. 🦠with Cpx, beta-lactams and aminoglycosides www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🔬🧠 Our paper on smart microscopy & the issue of interoperability! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... LONG THREAD WARNING: Smart microscopy uses real-time image analysis to automatically guide the acquisition or perturbation of the sample (closed feedback-control loop). Many applications exist:

Monitoring single cell bioenergetic status and cell lysis in dense and differentiating Bacillus subtilis cultures https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.21.671461v1

See how phi3T phage shifts Bacillus subtilis cell shape in the absence of SPbeta prophage and alters its fitness - our new publication in @commsbio.nature.com from group of @annadragos.bsky.social together with @bramkamplab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Coordination of virulence factors and lifestyle transition in Pseudomonas aeruginosa through single-cell analysis @commsbio.nature.com from @diepold-lab.bsky.social at @mpimicrobiomarburg.bsky.social with Victor Sourjik, Daniel Unterweger www.nature.com/articles/s42...

RagB stimulates the activity of the peptidoglycan polymerase RodA in Bacillus subtilis [RagB = YrrS] @emboreports.org by Frédérique Pompeo et al www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Many spores from the Firmicutes group are decorated with hair-like structures. Since the 60s, they remained a mystery. @remaut-lab.bsky.social named these fibres ENdospore Appendages (ENAs). Using Cryo-ID, we report the identity, structure and function of F-ENA. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New cool work from French friends and colleagues: identification of Rho termination sites in B. subtilis! academic.oup.com/nar/article/... #SubtiWiki @narjournal.bsky.social @inrae-france.bsky.social

The B. subtilis histidine-containing phosphocarrier protein (HPr) supports PTS-sugar import, interacts with GAPDH, and helps mediate carbon catabolite repression (CCR). Here, a mutant HPr protein is shown to alleviate metabolic intoxication in a cpgA mutant. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

📢 For all HaloTag lovers💙💚💛❤️💜🩶 we are excited to share that our work, in which we developed a new biotin-HaloTag ligand, is now published in @jcb.org! Full link here: rupress.org/jcb/article-...

#Streptomyces venezuelae uses an MreB-dependent lateral elongation growth mode during exploratory growth - publication drop mentioned during #phages2025 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New paper from the lab! Check out for super-resolution microscopy of spore formation.

Happy to see the final version out! Cryo-EM structure of the PS2 S-layer in Corynebacterium 🔬! We show it provides mechanical support to the cell wall and assembles at the poles in coordination with PG. It can also be used for covalent surface display. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #microsky

#microsky We challenge the long-standing view that peptidoglycan alone protects cells from bursting. Our study shows that the periplasm — enclosed by OM–PG connections — acts as a pressure buffer essential for osmoprotection in Gram-negative bacteria. 📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Metal ions are universally required for life, and many of the foundational principles of metal homeostasis have emerged from studies of microbial systems. In this review, I provide a introductory overview targeted to those new to the field. #MicroSky #Metals rdcu.be/eycU2

A versatile dual-color bacterial reporter system highlights two distinct Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type 3 secretion system intracellular populations. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.23.666013v1

Mechanism of lateral cell-wall expansion at a constant diameter in Bacillus subtilis -in @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

So happy to have contributed to this beautiful study led by PetrPelech! A combined theory–experiment effort based on our in situ cryo-ET data, revealing how stress-mediated growth shapes E. coli division site morphogenesis. #teamtomo 🌐 🦠🔬❄️🐎 👉📄 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

🐸 Imagine you’re sitting by a pond listening to the din of croaking frogs. What if you could use the changes in volume of the combined croaking to figure out how many frogs are in the pond? 🔬 That’s the idea behind a new method to count the individual molecules in fluorescence microscopy images.

Phosphorylation by the PknB serine/threonine kinase stimulates dimer formation by WalR https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.12.664526v1

New paper from the Lab about the division delay during competence in Streptococcus pneumoniae, always happy to collaborate with the LMGM in Toulouse! 🍾🎉🔬 Study realised during the thesis of Dimitri Juillot, under the supervision of Rut Carballido-López and Nathalie Campo.

Congratulations to @mervenurtunc.bsky.social for a great defence, the conclusion of a fantastic PhD! 👏 🎊 🌹

A new paper led by Ahmed Gaballa and Yesha Patel explores the pathways that reduce the dithiolopyrrolone (DTP) antibiotic thiolutin in B. subtilis. The active dithiol chelates intracellular Zn ions to impede growth. #MicroSky #Zinc #Antibiotics journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

The #SubtiWiki Paper of the month for June 2025 has been selected. Congratulations, @apbrogan.bsky.social @ @harvardmed.bsky.social @natmicrobiol.nature.com subtiwiki.uni-goettingen.de/wiki/index.p...

🥼 Janelia researchers are developing new tools to help accelerate biological discovery, like blinx – a new method that enables scientists to surpass the resolution limit of fluorescence microscopy. 🔬 🔗 www.janelia.org/news/new-met...

Direct and indirect pathways linking the Lon protease to motility behaviors in the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa #PLOSPathogens from @krijonas.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Are you looking for a postdoc? I will be looking for 2-4 people after the summer to join the lab !! Do not hesitate to reach out and disseminate !!

Evolution of beta-lactam resistance in E. coli in the absence of beta-lactamase: v interesting besides the usual OM suspects popping out www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨Out now! #News&Views Different forms of bacterial persistence in Bacillus subtilis are driven by a common (p)ppGpp-mediated switch that depletes GTP, triggering a rapid transition from a sensitive to an antibiotic-recalcitrant state. #MicroSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very happy to share that a large part of my thesis work is out today: B. subtilis uses the second messenger c-di-AMP to modulate its turgor pressure in response to the state of its cell envelope. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Researchers uncover a new class of retropepsin-like proteases in P. aeruginosa that are required for biofilm formation & bacterial survival under stress conditions, including antibiotic exposure, making them appealing therapeutic targets. #mBio: asm.social/2sq

Enzymatic Activity of PBP1B Compensates for β-lactam Mediated Inhibition of PBP2 in Cells Overproducing ppGpp https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.12.659302v1

Impaired envelope integrity in the absence of SanA is linked to increased Lipid II availability and an imbalance of FtsI and FtsW activities https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.10.658892v1

New tenure track assistant professor position in molecular microbiology in our department @dmf-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social! We are casting a wide net for an experimental molecular microbiologist. Apply here: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli...

Excited to share our latest review! Check it out to see what we know so far about how Staphylococcus aureus coordinates key processes during its cell cycle

Update on initial results of testing GraceBiolabs potential replacement to Thermo Fisher GeneFrames, widely used for bacterial cell biology microscopy time lapses but soon to be discontinued #microsky #bioimaging

After the success of our 2023 Imaging Cell Dynamics conference, we’ll be hosting a second #JCSImaging meeting in 2026, organised by @franbottanelli.bsky.social, @guijacquemet.bsky.social‬, @drmichaelway.bsky.social‬ & Giulia Zanetti. To register your interest: www.biologists.com/meetings/jcs...

MreB filaments <3

The interplay of membrane tension and FtsZ filament condensation on the initiation and progression of cell division in B. subtilis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.18.654715v1