Pneumococcus Group (Cécile Morlot)

The PG group investigates molecular mechanisms related to the bacterial cell envelope using integrated structural and cellular biology approaches, including super-resolution fluorescence and electron microscopy techniques, as well as X-ray crystallography, biochemistry and microbial genetics. Our biological molecules of interest include the cell wall, its synthesis machineries and the antibiotics that target them, as well as large protein complexes associated with the bacterial spore envelope.

Keywords
Streptococcus pneumoniae, pneumococcus, Bacillus subtilis, bacterial cell envelope, bacterial division, bacterial morphogenesis, sporulation, bacterial cell wall, peptidoglycan, teichoic acids, beta-lactams, penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), peptidoglycan hydrolases, spore coat, SpoIIIA-SpoIIQ complex.

Techniques
Electron microscopy, cryo-FIBM/SEM and cryo-tomography
Protein crystallization, X-ray crystallography
Click chemistry metabolic labeling
Fluorescence microscopy, super-resolution microscopy PALM and dSTORM
Molecular biology, pneumococcus genetics
Protein engineering
Soluble and membrane protein biochemistry