Research

Our unit is is part of the Department Structural Biology and Chemistry at Institut Pasteur.

We are interested in understanding how microbes sense and respond to their environment.

How are the cells able to actively seek out their preferred environmental niches, how can they effectively evade toxins and predators, and how can they adapt to thrive in changing environments.

In order to gain insight into the structure and function of the molecular complexes involved in these behaviors, we use cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). This technique allows us to directly study microbes in their native state at resolutions capable of visualizing individual proteins.

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Equipment

Cryo-Electron Tomography (cryo-ET)

Cellular electron cryotomography allows the study of individual microbial cells in their native state and in three dimensions at macromolecular resolutions. Our experiments rely on highly sophisticated and specialised equipment.

We have access to the Nanoimaging Platform at Institut Pasteur. The available instruments include TFS Glacios , Aquilos 2 cryo-FIB with liftout, and a TITAN Krios microscope with state-of-the-art equipment for highest quality data collection, as well as our fully equipped sample preparation laboratory, including  Leica instruments for sample freezing, large volume preprocessing and correlative imaging.