MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF DNA TRANSPOSITION AND SITE-SPECIFIC RECOMBINATION
Research in the laboratory aims at investigating molecular mechanisms that mediate specialised DNA rearrangements in bacteria:
These mechanisms play a central role in bacterial adaptive strategies and evolution. They also provide interesting model systems for the understanding of highly controlled DNA transactions occurring between distant sites in the genome.
Current work is focused on the replicative transposition cycle of Tn4430, a Tn3-family transposon from Bacillus thuringiensis.
The aim of the project is to provide a detailed picture describing how the transposition and recombination machineries encoded by this element assemble and function, and how they are regulated within the cell.
Specificities of Tn4430 transposition and site-specific recombination mechanisms are also used to develop new technologies to manipulate DNA molecules in vivo and in vitro.
A second research interest in the laboratory is on the mechanisms that link bacterial cell wall biosynthesis to cell morphology and cell cycle. This study is carried out on two morphologically distinct species of Gram-positive bacteria: the rod-shaped Lactobacillus plantarum and the ovoid Coccus Lactococcus lactis. Part of these activities is conducted in co-supervision with Pascal Hols.
| 11/03/2014 |