A multiscale study of stress-induced changes in nucleoid architecture and plasticity – NUC-STRESS

An organism’s capacity to survive depends, at least in part, on its ability to sense and respond to sudden changes in its environment. This is particularly true for bacteria, that have devised a wide range of strategies to respond to stress, including the capacity to rapidly remodel and compact their nucleoid, notably to protect their genetic information. With the growing societal concerns associated with antimicrobial resistance and the emerging threat represented by the release of potentially pathogenic micro-organisms into the environment as a consequence of global warming, there is a pressing need to better understand the universal mechanisms of bacterial stress response. The objective of the NUC-STRESS project is to decipher the mechanisms underlying the remarkable stress-induced changes in nucleoid organization in bacteria. To reach this objective, we propose to implement an inter-disciplinary, multiscale approach to characterize the structure and dynamics of the nucleoid of the most radiation resistant organism an earth, Deinococcus radiodurans, under normal growth conditions and in response to UV- and ionizing radiation. Because of its relatively large size and its exceptional radiation-resistance, D. radiodurans is particularly well suited for this study, which combines genome-wide analyses with optical and electron microscopy and integrated structural biology approaches. Building on solid preliminary data, the consortium composed of four highly complementary partners, will join forces and expertise in in vitro, in vivo and in silico techniques to make this project a success.