Publications related to Prof. Blokesch Group

Dangerous acquaintances: the interplay between type IV pili and the type VI secretion system during Vibrio cholerae's environmental lifestyle

Cholera, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has affected humanity throughout history and still impacts millions of people every year. Apart from being a human pathogen, V. cholerae is a common member of the aquatic environment. Due to this natural re ...

EPFL2024

Interactions between pili affect the outcome of bacterial competition driven by the type VI secretion system

Melanie Blokesch, Anne-Florence Raphaëlle Bitbol, Alexandre Lemopoulos, Richard Marie Servajean, Simon Bernhard Otto

The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a widespread, kin-discriminatory weapon capable of shaping microbial communities. Due to the system’s dependency on contact, cellular interactions can lead to either competition or kin protection. Cell-to-ce ...

2024

Vibrio cholerae pathogenicity island 2 encodes two distinct types of restriction systems

Melanie Blokesch, David William Adams, Alexandre Lemopoulos, Grazia Vizzarro

In response to predation by bacteriophages and invasion by other mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, bacteria have evolved specialised defence systems that are often clustered together on genomic islands. The O1 El Tor strains of Vibrio cholerae resp ...

2024

Capsular Polysaccharide Restrains Type VI Secretion in Acinetobacter baumannii

Melanie Blokesch, Loriane Bader, Mary-Claude Croisier-Coeytaux, Nicolas Olmo Flaugnatti

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a sophisticated, contact-dependent nanomachine involved in interbacterial competition. To function effectively, the T6SS must penetrate the membranes of both attacker and target bacteria. Structures associated with th ...

2024

Stability of influenza A virus in droplets and aerosols is heightened by the presence of commensal respiratory bacteria

Athanasios Nenes, Tamar Kohn, Kalliopi Violaki, Ghislain Gilles Jean-Michel Motos, Aline Laetitia Schaub, Shannon Christa David, Walter Hugentobler, Htet Kyi Wynn, Céline Terrettaz, Laura José Costa Henriques, Daniel Scott Nolan, Marta Augugliaro

Aerosol transmission remains a major challenge for control of respiratory viruses, particularly those causing recurrent epidemics, like influenza A virus (IAV). These viruses are rarely expelled alone, but instead are embedded in a consortium of microorgan ...

2024

Bactericidal effect of tetracycline in E. coli strain ED1a may be associated with ribosome dysfunction

Camille Véronique Bernadette Goemans, Christian Eugen Zimmerli, Martin Beck

Ribosomes translate the genetic code into proteins. Recent technical advances have facilitated in situ structural analyses of ribosome functional states inside eukaryotic cells and the minimal bacterium Mycoplasma. However, such analyses of Gram-negative b ...

2024

Genome sequences of Vibrio cholerae strains isolated in the DRC between 2009 and 2012

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Alexandre Lemopoulos, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr

Vibrio cholerae has caused seven cholera pandemics in the past two centuries. The seventh and ongoing pandemic has been particularly severe on the African continent. Here, we report long read-based genome sequences of six V. cholerae strains isolated in th ...

2024

Accurate and rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing using a machine learning-assisted nanomotion technology platform

Sandor Kasas, Anthony Vocat, Gino Cathomen, Eric Delarze, Florian Tagini, Laura Munch

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health threat, reducing treatment options for infected patients. AMR is promoted by a lack of access to rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests (ASTs). Accelerated ASTs can identify effective antibiotics for t ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Virucidal compounds and use thereof

Francesco Stellacci, Bruno Emanuel Ferreira De Sousa Correia, Pablo Gainza Cirauqui, Corey Alfred Stevens, Francesca Olgiati, Chiara Medaglia, Lukasz Richter

Disclosed herein are peptide-grafted compounds that irreversibly deactivate bacteriophages or influenza virus depending on the peptide and remain safe for bacteria and mammalian cells. The active compounds comprise a core (cyclodextrin or gold nanoparticle ...

2024

DNA modifications impact natural transformation of Acinetobacter baumannii

Melanie Blokesch, Nicolas Jean Philippe Guex, Christian Iseli, Alexandre Lemopoulos, Nina Vesel

Acinetobacter baumannii is a dangerous nosocomial pathogen, especially due to its ability to rapidly acquire new genetic traits, including antibiotic resistance genes (ARG). In A. baumannii, natural competence for transformation, one of the primary modes o ...

2023

Prof. Blokesch Group

Dangerous acquaintances: the interplay between type IV pili and the type VI secretion system during Vibrio cholerae's environmental lifestyle

Interactions between pili affect the outcome of bacterial competition driven by the type VI secretion system

Vibrio cholerae pathogenicity island 2 encodes two distinct types of restriction systems

Capsular Polysaccharide Restrains Type VI Secretion in Acinetobacter baumannii

Stability of influenza A virus in droplets and aerosols is heightened by the presence of commensal respiratory bacteria

Bactericidal effect of tetracycline in E. coli strain ED1a may be associated with ribosome dysfunction

Genome sequences of Vibrio cholerae strains isolated in the DRC between 2009 and 2012

Accurate and rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing using a machine learning-assisted nanomotion technology platform

Virucidal compounds and use thereof

DNA modifications impact natural transformation of Acinetobacter baumannii

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