Co-translational protein aggregation and ribosome stalling as a broad-spectrum antibacterial mechanism.

Drug-resistant bacteria pose an urgent global health threat, necessitating the development of antibacterial compounds with novel modes of action. Protein biosynthesis accounts for up to half of the energy expenditure of bacterial cells, and consequently inhibiting the efficiency or fidelity of the bacterial ribosome is a major target of existing antibiotics. Here, we describe an alternative mode of action that affects the same process: allowing translation to proceed but causing co-translational aggregation of the nascent peptidic chain.

Composition and liquid-to-solid maturation of protein aggregates contribute to bacterial dormancy development and recovery.

Recalcitrant bacterial infections can be caused by various types of dormant bacteria, including persisters and viable but nonculturable (VBNC) cells. Despite their clinical importance, we know fairly little about bacterial dormancy development and recovery. Previously, we established a correlation between protein aggregation and dormancy in Escherichia coli.

An end-to-end approach for single-cell infrared absorption spectroscopy of bacterial inclusion bodies: from AFM-IR measurement to data interpretation of large sample sets.

Background: Inclusion bodies (IBs) are well-known subcellular structures in bacteria where protein aggregates are collected. Various methods have probed their structure, but single-cell spectroscopy remains challenging. Atomic Force Microscopy-based Infrared Spectroscopy (AFM-IR) is a novel technology with high potential for the characterisation of biomaterials such as IBs.

Mechanistic insights into the adaptive evolvability of spore heat resistance in Bacillus cereus sensu lato.

Wet heat treatment is a commonly applied method in the food and medical industries for the inactivation of microorganisms, and bacterial spores in particular. While many studies have delved into the mechanisms underlying wet heat killing and spore resistance, little attention has so far been dedicated to the capacity of spore-forming bacteria to tune their resistance through adaptive evolution. Nevertheless, a recent study from our group revealed that a psychrotrophic strain of the Bacillus cereus sensu lato group (i.