Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

José R Penadés @jrpenades.bsky.social · 29d

Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Chimeric infective particles expand species boundaries in phage-inducible chromosomal island mobilization

Capsid-forming PICIs (cf-PICIs) produce their own capsids and exploit phage tails from unrelated species to transfer their DNA across bacterial hosts. This tail piracy enables broad dissemination and ...

www.cell.com

50 99

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Kranzusch Lab @kranzuschlab.bsky.social · 29d

Chimeric infective particles expand species boundaries in phage-inducible chromosomal island mobilization: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Chimeric infective particles expand species boundaries in phage-inducible chromosomal island mobilization

Capsid-forming PICIs (cf-PICIs) produce their own capsids and exploit phage tails from unrelated species to transfer their DNA across bacterial hosts. This tail piracy enables broad dissemination and ...

www.cell.com

2 5

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · Sep 5

The ecology and evolution of microbial immune systems: a look on the wild vibrio side

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B by @fredoleroux.bsky.social

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

The ecology and evolution of microbial immune systems: a look on the wild vibrio side | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Natural populations of vibrio beyond the well-studied pandemic strains of Vibrio cholerae, provide a powerful model for investigating the eco-evolutionary dynamics of microbial immune systems. Their genetic diversity, ecological versatility, ease of ...

royalsocietypublishing.org

6 14

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · Aug 22

And thank you so much Pauline!!! It was very cool to see you again with other 'old' conference friends, looking forward to see you again @ Roscoff 2026/Monod conference/virus evolution ;-)?

2

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · Jun 9

and here is the link for the program: event.fourwaves.com/fr/scm-csm20...

SCM-CSM2025 UMontreal Conference

Fourwaves - SCM-CSM2025 UMontreal Conference

event.fourwaves.com

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · Jun 9

👉 Next stop: Montréal! 🇨🇦 Thrilled to join the Canada Society of Microbiology (CSM) conference, June 17-20. Science, community, and reconnecting with old friends — can’t wait!

2 2 7

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Université de Montréal - News @umontreal-en.bsky.social · Jun 9

The study involves our‪ microbiologist @fredoleroux.bsky.social, whom we profiled in late 2023 as a new hire and Canada Excellence in Research Chair: nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...

5 11

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · May 29

Allo Montreal, 11 juin –18H au café La brassée:
"Des sphères aux spirales, des extrémophiles aux probiotiques: plongez dans l’univers fascinant des bactéries ! "
Appéro- Science, qui dit mieux? #cinqascience #5ascience

1 1

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

ᐯIᑕTOᖇ ᑎIᘔET, ᗰᗪ @nizet.bsky.social · Jun 1

commemorating pride from the clinical microbiology lab

1 13 57

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Jesse Shapiro @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social · May 29

And I've written a few reviews on the subject over the years, but this one is pretty short, so why not start there ;)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How clonal are bacteria over time?

Bacteria and archaea reproduce clonally (vertical descent), but exchange genes by recombination (horizontal transfer). Recombination allows adaptive m…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 4 15

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · May 29

Allo Montreal, 11 juin –18H au café La brassée:
"Des sphères aux spirales, des extrémophiles aux probiotiques: plongez dans l’univers fascinant des bactéries ! "
Appéro- Science, qui dit mieux? #cinqascience #5ascience

1 1

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Institut Pasteur | 130 years of biomedical research @pasteur.fr · May 22

🧬 Bacteria fight both antibiotics and viruses with the same genetic tool: integrons!

New study (Institut Pasteur, CNRS, Université Paris Cité & Montréal): ~10% of gene cassettes may defend against phages.

🛠️ One step closer to smarter therapies.

🔗 www.pasteur.fr/en/research-...

Bacteriophages infecting an Escherichia coli bacterium.
Credit: Institut Pasteur/Chantal Le Bouguénec (Pathogenic Gram-Positive Bacteria Biology Unit) and Laurent Debarbieux (Molecular Biology of the Gene in Extremophiles Unit). Imaging by Perrine Bomme, Ultrastructural Microscopy Platform. Colorization by Jean-Marc Panaud.

1 7 25

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · May 23

Congratulation Mélanie, so cool story on phage defense and pathogen evolution in real life!

1 1 3

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Melanie Blokesch @mblokesch.bsky.social · May 22

Exciting news!! Our latest paper is out in Nat. Microbiol. @natmicrobiol.nature.com

We show that a sub-lineage of 7th pandemic V. cholerae has acquired mobile genetic elements packed with phage defense systems—rendering it multi-phage resistant 😳 ..... 1/3

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

West African–South American pandemic Vibrio cholerae encodes multiple distinct phage defence systems - Nature Microbiology

The West African–South American lineage of Vibrio cholerae contains multiple distinct anti-phage defence systems that provide resistance to various phage families, including vibriophage ICP1, a key pr...

www.nature.com

8 69 190

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · May 13

Allo Montréal, prochain Cinq à Science, 14 mai, le microbiote intestinal par Corinne Maurice, mc Gills 🙂

1

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Baptiste Darracq @baptistedarracq.bsky.social · May 9

Have also a look at our back-to-back study for mobile integrons by Nicolas Kieffer from @jaescudero.bsky.social group !
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
+ a similar story in V. parahaemolyticus by @landongetz.bsky.social from @themaxwelllab.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mobile integrons encode phage defense systems

Integrons are bacterial genetic elements that capture, stockpile, and modulate the expression of genes encoded in integron cassettes. Mobile integrons (MIs) are borne on plasmids, acting as a vehicle ...

www.science.org

1 6 11

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Baptiste Darracq @baptistedarracq.bsky.social · May 9

An enormous thanks for the great co-first author @eloilittner.bsky.social and for our supervisors @celineloot.bsky.social @epcrocha.bsky.social @amazeld.bsky.social @fredoleroux.bsky.social. Many thanks to all co-authors !!

1 2 6

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Baptiste Darracq @baptistedarracq.bsky.social · May 9

On the bioinformatic side, eloilittner.bsky.social found a diverse arsenal of anti-phage defenses in SCIs. Strikingly, systems in integrons are always compact (< 3 genes), and smaller than their homologs outside integrons (likely due to cassette size constraints)

1 2 2

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Baptiste Darracq @baptistedarracq.bsky.social · May 9

The integron of our favorite model Vibrio cholerae was mostly “dark matter” as most cassettes had no known role. We found this intriguing and cloned 88 cassettes, testing them for phage resistance. We found 16 defensive cassettes and named the systems after gallic mythology

1 2 2

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Baptiste Darracq @baptistedarracq.bsky.social · May 9

White smoke, we have a new pope and also 16 new anti-phages systems in sedentary integrons (SCIs) !
In collaboration with the Rocha lab, we show in our new paper that cassettes of these large platforms encode many known anti-phage defenses, and uncovered 16 new ones.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Sedentary chromosomal integrons as biobanks of bacterial antiphage defense systems

Integrons are genetic systems that drive bacterial adaptation by acquiring, expressing, and shuffling gene cassettes. While mobile integrons are well known for spreading antibiotic resistance genes, t...

www.science.org

1 17 31

Reposted by Frédérique Le Roux

Eloi Littner @eloilittner.bsky.social · May 9

Habemus paper! Our story on integron-encoded anti-phage defenses is now out in @science.org! 16 new systems, small versions of known ones, and a lot more in this highly-collaborative study.

Many thanks to everyone involved, especially my supervisor @epcrocha.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/bapt...

Baptiste Darracq @baptistedarracq.bsky.social · May 9

White smoke, we have a new pope and also 16 new anti-phages systems in sedentary integrons (SCIs) !
In collaboration with the Rocha lab, we show in our new paper that cassettes of these large platforms encode many known anti-phage defenses, and uncovered 16 new ones.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Sedentary chromosomal integrons as biobanks of bacterial antiphage defense systems

Integrons are genetic systems that drive bacterial adaptation by acquiring, expressing, and shuffling gene cassettes. While mobile integrons are well known for spreading antibiotic resistance genes, t...

www.science.org

2 18 33

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · May 3

Allo Montréal! Prochain Cinq à Science, le 14 mai, 6pm, Corinne Maurice, Mc Gill, Microbiote intestinal. #cinqascience

3

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · Apr 29

Pas de recul. / No retreat.
Pas de silence. / No silence.
Pas de haine chez nous. / No hate here.
🇨🇦 Liberté, justice, solidarité. / 🇨🇦 Freedom, justice, solidarity.
Résistons ensemble! ✊ / Let’s resist together! ✊
#CanadaLibre #DefendDemocracy #LoveWins

3

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · Apr 24

Application deadline: May 27, 2025

Frédérique Le Roux @fredoleroux.bsky.social · Apr 24

🚨 Postdoc Alert!
Join my lab @ Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine via the 2025 CIB Fellowship Competition 🧬
Project: “The Paradox of Parasitism” – bioinformatics + marine parasite evolution
💸 $63,819/yr + full benefits (2 yrs)
Apply 👉 cibmontreal.ca/en/news/laun...

Launch of the 2025 postdoctoral fellowship competition

The BIC is proud to launch its first Postdoctoral Fellowship competition. Applications are open from now until May 27, 2025.

cibmontreal.ca

1 1 2