RNA control of gene expression

Our Team

     Bacteria respond and adapt very rapidly to changes in growth conditions and environmental stresses. To do so, they regulate their gene expression both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level, using RNA and proteins as regulators. Our research interests are (1) to gain insights into the mechanisms modulating gene expression in bacteria, with a focus on the role of RNA in this process, and (2) to dissect the links between different regulatory networks involving small RNAs and other transcriptional or translational regulators. Another theme that we pursue and that illustrates the importance of gene regulation is the study of sugar metabolism in bacteria (3). The knowledge that we have of Escherichia coli and the available tools to study this bacterium make it our model organism of choice for these studies. Nevertheless, a lot of our findings are applicable to other pathogenic or non-pathogenic enterobacteria, and sometimes in much more distant species.