Prokaryotic Cell Development (ProCeD)

Research

We are interested in understanding how dynamic molecular interactions are regulated in time and in space to form functional machineries that establish long-range orders and cellular functions.

To this end we combine cutting-edge high-resolution fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy techniques with powerful genetic, biophysical, biochemical and systems biology approaches available in model bacteria, in particular the rod-shaped Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis (although we have started to work with other bugs too), to determine mechanistic details underlying basic cellular and developmental processes: the molecules, macromolecular assemblies, cellular events and physiological adaptations involved.

Because of their relative simplicity, bacteria are fantastic experimental systems to tackle these questions in living cells and will be the first cells to be fully understood at the systems level. Furthermore, understanding how bacterial cells grow has important implications for the identification of new antimicrobial targets and for the development of synthetic biology tools for bioproduction and biotechnology purposes.

Our ongoing work is exploring these topics:

• Bacterial Cell Morphogenesis
• Cell biology of cellular processes occurring across the bacterial cell wall

Join Us!

If you too are driven by the thirst for discovery and the passion for research of spatiotemporal relationships in the infinite complexity of the 'simple' bacterial cells, and you would like to join our lab, feel free to contact Rut no matter what your background field is (biology, physics, chemistry, computer science, etc). Tell us what your interests are, and what projects you would like to work on. We welcome fresh ideas, organisms, approaches and out of the box thinkers!

We still have a couple of positions available (for a start any time before spring 2021) within the context of an ERC Consolidator grant awarded to Rut. Do not hesitate to contact her for more information.

If you are interested in obtaining your personal post-doc fellowship, contact us too: we have successful experience with EMBO and HSFP long-term fellowships, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) as well as with 'ANR retour postdoc'  and 'Marie Curie reintegration' grants.

Read more on our Job openings page.

Fundings

ProCeD lab