Marie-Eve VAL

How do SMC complexes load onto DNA to get ready for loop extrusion?

@roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & co discovered that Wadjet, an SMC complex involved in bacterial DNA immunity, performs some impressive molecular gymnastics 🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️.

Check out the new paper: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Finally out, such an awesome piece of work, very proud of this one: www.cell.com/cell-systems... #MicroSky

Uridine as a potentiator of aminoglycosides through activation of carbohydrate transporters Uridine boosts aminoglycoside treatment efficiency against antibiotic-susceptible as well as antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains.

So excited our antibiotic potentiation story is out 🤩 Led by the extraordinary @manonlang.bsky.social with @fox-science.bsky.social & @amazeld.bsky.social +amazing collaborators @immunobladder.bsky.social @imaneelmeouche.bsky.social 🦠 We believe it can make a difference in #AMR infections!

Efficient detection and typing of phage-plasmids Phage-plasmids are temperate phages that replicate as plasmids during lysogeny. Despite their high diversity, they carry genes similar to phages and plasmids. This leads to gene exchanges, and to the ...

🚨 New preprint! 🧬

𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 (𝐏-𝐏𝐬) are fascinating elements: both 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 and 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 ➡️ tricky to detect.

We present 𝐭𝐲𝐏𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐠 — the first 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 🛠️designed specifically for P-Ps:
✅ Accurate
✅ Sensitive
✅ Easy to use

📖 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🌎👩‍🔬 For 15+ years biology has accumulated petabytes (million gigabytes) of🧬DNA sequencing data🧬 from the far reaches of our planet.🦠🍄🌵

Logan now democratizes efficient access to the world’s most comprehensive genetics dataset. Free and open.

doi.org/10.1101/2024...

At last ! A tool specifically for phage-plasmid hunters. Check tyPPing by @karinailchenko.bsky.social and @eugenpfeifer.bsky.social

Genomic constraints shape the evolution of alternative routes to drug resistance in prokaryotes. Background: Variation within the prokaryotic pangenome is not random, and natural selection that favours particular combinations of genes appears to dominate over random drift. What is less clear is w...

New preprint from the group: @lucydillon.bsky.social analysis of 16,000+ genomes finds Bacteria cannot combine certain resistance genes as they are mutually exclusive, forcing them down incompatible evolutionary paths.
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.20.671315v1
@jomcinerney.bsky.social

The interplay of membrane tension and FtsZ filament condensation on the initiation and progression of cell division in B. subtilis The first step of cell division is deforming the planar cell membrane inward towards the cytoplasm. As deforming membranes is energetically costly, biology has developed various protein systems to acc...

I’m excited that the work by Diego Ramirez and Lei Yin is out, where they gained several key insights into what provides the force underlying bacterial cell division doi.org/10.1101/2025....

To divide, cells must first bend the membrane inward, a process that’s energetically expensive

Genetic determinants of pOXA-48 plasmid maintenance and propagation in Escherichia coli - Nature Communications pOXA-48 plasmids have emerged as key vectors of carbapenem resistance within Enterobacteriaceae. In this study, the authors use a transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) approach to identify genetic determinan...

Our paper “Genetic determinants of pOXA-48 plasmid maintenance and propagation in Escherichia coli” is now online in @natcomms.nature.com ✨
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@cnrs-rhoneauvergne.bsky.social @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social

Dissecting pOXA-48 fitness effects in clinical Enterobacterales using plasmid-wide CRISPRi screens Nature Communications - This study investigates the effects of the carbapenem resistance plasmid pOXA-48 in clinical enterobacteria. Using CRISPRi screens, the authors revealed that the...

This work is finally published! 🥳🧬
Plasmids are associated with very variable fitness costs in their different bacterial hosts. But, what is the contribution of each of the plasmid-genes in these host-specific effects? Study led by
@jorgesastred.bsky.social, @sanmillan.bsky.social and myself! 1/14

#microsky In this review, we summarize the current literature across bacterial phyla on large extrachromosomal replicons. Current Opinion in Microbiology: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi....

Congratulations to PhD students Jasmin Ostermayer and Noa Guzzi (co–first authors 🎉), together with Jakub Czarnecki and Alfonso Soler-Bistué, for compressing the diverse, lineage-wide literature on large extrachromosomal replicons into <5000 words and 80 references 😅

Taming wild replicons: evolution and domestication of large extrachromosomal replicons Bacterial genomes often contain extrachromosomal replicons (ERs), ranging from small, mobile plasmids to large, stably inherited elements, such as meg…

For those who love bacterial replicons, The ultimate review, from our lab, signed by the master of their evolution.
‪@val-meve.bsky.social‬ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Deep learning reveals antibiotics in the archaeal proteome - Nature Microbiology Use of artificial intelligence to mine proteomes of archaea led to the discovery of archaeasins, antimicrobials that kill drug-resistant bacteria in laboratory and animal models, offering a promising source of future antibiotics.

A paper in Nature Microbiology reports that the use of AI to mine proteomes of archaea led to the discovery of archaeasins, antimicrobials that kill drug-resistant bacteria in laboratory and animal models, offering a promising source of future antibiotics. #medsky 🧪

An orthogonal T7 replisome for continuous hypermutation and accelerated evolution in E. coli Systems that perform continuous hypermutation of designated genes without compromising the integrity of the host genome can substantially accelerate the evolution of new or enhanced protein functions....

#NatMicroPicks

Synthetic evolution overdrive 🦠🔧🚅

A highly mutagenic DNA replication system speeds up evolution in Escherichia coli, without harming the host, opening a new way to accelerate protein engineering.

#SynBio #MicroSky

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A two year post-doctoral position at the BacterialGenome Plasticity Unit starting October 1st - Research

A 2-year postdoc position in my lab, under the supervision of P-Alex Kaminski, on Z-DNA phages and the benefit given by ZTGC DNA and the replication machinery, with attempt to create a Z based minireplicon
research.pasteur.fr/en/job/a-two...

graphical abstract of the article the extended mobility of plasmids

Here's our new broad review on the extended mobility of plasmids, about all mechanisms driving and limiting their transfer. From conjugation to conduction, phage-plasmids to hitchers, molecular to evolutionary dynamics, ecology to biotech. The state of affairs. 1/9 academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

AlphaFold - A practical guide AlphaFold - A practical guide

Recently I learnt that EMBL-EBI has a free online course about AlphaFold — how it works, strengths and limitations, how to use it — and it's very good!

There are also little quizzes and interactives.
www.ebi.ac.uk/training/onl...

A Vibrio-specific T6SS effector reshapes microbial competition by disrupting Vibrio bioenergetics Liu et al. report that a Vibrio-specific T6SS effector, TseVs, selectively disrupts Vibrio bioenergetics while sparing non-target microbes via an immunity-independent mechanism. This work reveals how ...

#NatMicroPicks

Vibrio in competition! 🦠💉

An orphan T6SS effector in non-toxigenic Vibrio cholerae targets susceptible strains by disrupting ion balance, shaping Vibrio population dynamics and offering a model for precision antimicrobials.

#MicroSky

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

York calling! 📣 🧬🧬🧬

Join us at www.biochemistry.org/events-and-t...

⏳⏰ Early bird deadline approaching soon, 16 July! Do not miss out! Half of the talks selected from abstracts.
@damelab.bsky.social @vslioy.bsky.social @graingerlab.bsky.social @biochemsoc.bsky.social @biophychrom.bsky.social

Universal rules govern plasmid copy number - Nature Communications Plasmids exhibit a broad range of sizes and copies per cell, and these two parameters appear to be negatively correlated. Here, Ramiro-Martínez et al. analyse the copy number of thousands of diverse b...

Curious about plasmid biology? Our latest paper is out now in Nature Communications! 🚨

doi.org/10.1038/s414...

We analyzed thousands of diverse bacterial plasmids to shed light for the first time on a key aspect of plasmid biology: plasmid copy number. 1/7 👇

Expanding the diversity of bacterial DNA partitioning: A CTP-independent ParABS system for plasmid partitioning in Streptomyces | PNAS The ATP- and CTP-dependent ParA-ParB-parS segrosome is a macromolecular complex that segregates chromosomes/plasmids in most bacterial species. CTP...

Finally published! Many thanks to the reviewers and editor whose comments & suggestions improved this work significantly more than the first preprint version!!!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Check out this new review (with animations, natch) of mechanisms of licensing origins of DNA replication - a wonderful (and continuing!) collaboration with Bruce Stillman @cshlnews.bsky.social and John Diffley @crick.ac.uk! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our paper demonstrating that within-species warfare interactions are ecologically important on human skin is now published in Nature Micro! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In-host evolution of Yersinia enterocolitica during a chronic human infection - Nature Communications This study documents the evolution of antibiotic resistance and major growth defects in Yersinia enterocolitica in a patient over 14 years, revealing genetic changes that shed light on bacterial adapt...

1/8 - New in @natcomms.nature.com !
☣️ Meet Yersinia enterocolitica (Ye) — a lesser-known but still dangerous cousin of Yersinia pestis.
We uncover how this invasive pathogen can survive and adapt for 14 years inside a human host under constant antibiotic pressure 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Prevalent chromosome fusion in Vibrio cholerae O1 - Nature Communications The pathogenic bacterium Vibrio cholerae typically has two circular chromosomes. Here, Cuénod et al. analyse 467 clinical isolates and identify several independent chromosome fusion events that are li...

One of my favourite serendipitous results from the lab came about because we were long-read sequencing bacterial:

Vibrio cholerae, which is "supposed to" have TWO circular chromosomes (3 + 1 million base pairs) often has just ONE fused chromosome (4 Mbp).

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

(1/n)

Paramoeba atlantica as a Natural Intracellular Niche for Vibrios in Marine Ecosystems Various vibrios can colonise a large vacuole called VCV (Vibrio-containing-vacuole) within Paramoeba atlantica. The VCVs acidify and the vibrios multiply and remain alive inside the VCVs for hours. T...

Our last paper just came out ! A great piece of work from the talented Laura Onillon and teammates with the pleasure to share this adventure with friendly collaborators @vincentdlft.bsky.social and @soldatilab.bsky.social !

New-to-nature biocompatible chemistry for plastic waste upcycling - Nature Chemistry Synthetic and biological chemistry are traditionally seen as separate fields. Now, a biocompatible chemical reaction enables an engineered microbe to convert plastic waste into valuable compounds unde...

#NatMicroPicks

E. coli making paracetamol from plastic waste! 🦠💊

A new biocompatible chemistry for plastic waste upcycling using microbes.

#MicroSky #SynBio 🔧🧬

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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...

Marie Curie fellowship, post-doc hosting oppotunity in my lab. MSCA Post-doctoral Fellowship at IBPC Paris on RNA modifications in bacteria (FRANCE) 🦠💫 euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/hosting...