Group leader : Bruno Franzetti
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
The ELMA group seeks to understand how microbes present in the most extreme environments have developed unique metabolisms at the thermodynamic limit of life and how they manage to maintain a healthy proteome under high temperature, pressure, or salt conditions. This research is pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the resilience of living organisms, in terms of energy sources, biomolecules stability, molecular evolution and even novel cellular machineries.
Our work mainly focuses on biological systems derived from archaea. These prokaryotic organisms differ from bacteria. They represent an important part of the Earth’s microbiota, play crucial roles in the geochemical cycles and still remain the most unexplored part of the living world. They have developed a metabolic plasticity that enables them to thrive in the most hostile environments.
In addition to exploring the uniqueness of archaeal adaptability, cellular processes and metabolisms, our activities provide a rational framework for understanding the origins of life and guiding the search for life in the universe. Our extremophile-focused basic research activities also aim to offer innovative solutions for industry such as alternative energy sources, robust biocatalysts for cleaner industrial processes and protein hydrolysates for the nutrition, health, and cosmetic sectors.
The ELMA research activity is divided into two axes :
Molecular Limits of Life
We aim to identify, via a proteome-wide approach, the molecular mechanisms specifically associated with maintaining protein integrity, and activity under extreme temperature, pressure and salt conditions. The second project on cellular environmental adaptation is focused on the regulation of the archaeal proteasome from hyperthermophilic/deep-sea Archaea and its role in stress response. This knowledge is used to develop innovative biotechnologies for the agri-food sector, in particular through research and engineering of new extremophilic peptidases from marine environments.
Microbial Metabolism (T. Wagner’s ERC team)
We aim to unveil catabolic and assimilatory pathways of anaerobic chemoautotrophs. Our research mainly focuses on microbes thriving at the thermodynamic limit, such as methanogens, acetogens, and alkanotrophs. We rely on an integrative native approach combining microbial physiology, enzymology, biochemistry, and structural biology, all mostly performed under anaerobic conditions to protect sensitive metallocenters.
SPECIFIC METHODS
To tackle these exciting challenges the ELMA group uses specialized equipment for enzymatic, biophysical and structural studies under extreme temperature, pressure and anoxic conditions, as well as specific skills in microbiology and biochemistry and structural biology : native complex purification and advanced X-ray crystallography methods that complement cryo-EM approaches. We also have a strong interest in native approaches to identifying supramolecular complexes involved in extremophilic adaptation and archaeal metabolism through cellular interactomics, purification of native complexes, proteomics and biophysics of archaeal proteomes.
KEYWORDS
Extremophiles. Archaea. Environmental adaptation. Molecular Evolution. Exobiology. Deep sea. Halophiles. Thermophiles. Psychrophiles. Piezophiles. Proteasomes. Chaperones. Peptidases. TET. Malate dehydrogenase. Allostery. Industrial enzymes.
