The UNamur hosted the annual meeting of the FNRS contact group “Molecular Bacteriology”

The meeting of the FNRS contact group « Molecular Bacteriology » is an annual event bringing together Belgian researchers that decipher molecular mechanisms in diverse bacteria, such as bacterial models, opportunistic or professional pathogens, as well as environmental bacteria.

This year, the meeting was hosted by the UNamur on October 14, 2022 and attracted over 130 researchers from different Belgian universities (UCLouvain, ULiège, UNamur, ULB, KU Leuven, UGhent and VUB). The day featured two keynote speakers. During the morning session, Simonetta Gribaldo, evolutionary microbiologist at Institut Pasteur of Paris, shed light on microbial diversity and evolution of the bacterial cell envelope. In the afternoon, Christophe Grangeasse, director of the Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry (MMSB) unit in Lyon, gave a talk about cell division and morphogenesis of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

In addition to our two excellent guest speakers, the floor was given to ten young researchers to present their diverse research topics: (1) Bacterial alarmone (p)ppGpp synthesis and degradation in Bacillus subtilis by Andres Ainelo, from Abel Garcia-Pino lab at ULB; (2) Copper tolerance in Caulobacter crescentus by Pauline Cherry, from Jean-Yves Matroule lab at UNamur; (3) Chromosome organization and segregation in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus by Jovana Kaljevic, from Géraldine Laloux lab at UCLouvain; (4) Cationic peptides produced by Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Katy Poncin, from Chris Tang lab at University of Oxford; (5) TypeIX secretion system in Bacteriodetes by Frédéric Lauber, from Ben Berks lab at University of Oxford; (6) Innate immunity in bacteria against phages by Albinas Cepauskas, from Abel Garcia-Pino lab at ULB; (7) Bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems by Nathan Fraikin, from Laurence Van Melderen lab at ULB; (8) N-terminal proteoforms in Salmonella Typhimurium by Valdes Snauwaert, from Petra Van Damme lab at UGhent; (9) Adaptation of group A Streptococcus bacteriophages to the human host by Lionel Schiavolin, from Pierre Smeesters and Anne Botteaux lab at ULB; and (10) Antibiotic persistence during infection by Séverin Ronneau, from Sophie Helaine lab at Harvard Medical School, USA.

This meeting was not only a fantastic opportunity to attend cutting-edge presentations, but was also a good occasion to meet and network with other molecular bacteriologists!

The organizers are grateful to our sponsor Syngulon for its support!

www.narilis.be/events/fnrs-contact-group-molecular-bacteriology