Charlène CORNILLEAU

In Rut’s lab since 2013, I started a PhD in april 2019 combining the study of peptidoglycan synthesis and the mode of action of cell-wall antibiotics.

Because of its essential role, the bacterial cell wall (CW), and in particular peptidoglycan (PG) synthesis, represents a primary target for antibiotic action. Our understanding of CW antibiotics is however centred on the biochemical reactions inhibited by the primary drug-target interaction. The downstream consequences of target inhibition, how they usually result in morphological changes and a cell envelope stress response that generally culminate in either resistance or cell lysis have proven complex and are poorly understood.
The aim of this project is to combine powerful systems biology approaches available in the model Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis with cutting-edge light microscopy and nanoscopy techniques to determine mechanistic details and general signatures underlying the mode of action of antibiotics targeting the bacterial cell wall. We will use antibiotics specifically targeting different steps of CW synthesis to address this using an integrated approach including transcriptomics, chemical and biophysical analysis of peptidoglycan, single-cell, single-particle and single-molecule imaging. Our goal is to provide new insight into the modes of action of CW antibiotics and into the process of CW biogenesis itself.

[7] Cornilleau C, Chastanet A, Billaudeau C, Carballido-López R. Methods for Studying Membrane-Associated Bacterial Cytoskeleton Proteins In Vivo by TIRF Microscopy. Methods Mol Biol. 2020 Jan; 2101:123-133. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0219-5_8.
[6] Billaudeau C, Yao Z, Cornilleau C, Carballido-Lopez R, Chastanet A. MreB Forms Subdiffraction Nanofilaments during Active Growth in Bacillus subtilis. MBio. 2019 Jan 29; doi: 10.1128/mBio.01879-18.

[5] Mirouze N, Ferret C, Cornilleau C, Carballido-López R. Antibiotic sensitivity reveals that wall teichoic acids mediate DNA binding during competence in Bacillus subtilis. Nat Commun. 2018 Nov 29; doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07553-8.

[4] De San Eustaquio-Campillo A, Cornilleau C, Guérin C, Carballido-López R, Chastanet A (2017) PamR, a new MarR-like regulator affecting prophages and metabolic genes expression in Bacillus subtilis. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0189694

[3] Billaudeau C, Chastanet A, Yao Z, Cornilleau C, Mirouze N, Fromion V, Carballido-López R. Contrasting mechanisms of growth in two model rod-shaped bacteria. Nat Commun. 2017 Jun 7;8:15370

[2] Chaban Y, Lurz R, Brasilès S, Cornilleau C, Karreman M, Zinn-Justin S, Tavares P, Orlova EV. Structural rearrangements in the phage head-to-tail interface during assembly and infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2015 Jun 2 ; 112(22):7009-14.

[1] Cornilleau C, Atmane N, Jacquet E, Smits C, Alonso J C, Tavares P, Oliveira L. The nuclease domain of the SPP1 packaging motor coordinates DNA cleavage and encapsidation. Nucleic Acids Res. 2013. 41: 340–354.

Ingénieur en génie biochimique, INSA Toulouse (2009)