The cell envelope, often referred to as the membrane, is the main interface between an organism and its environment. It is one of the cell’s oldest and most essential components. In the Gribaldo lab we are interested in the evolution of the bacterial cell envelope. In order to study the transition from diderms to monoderms, we are using as a model organism the diderm firmicute Veillonella parvula.
Previous work from our team showed that a mutant lacking the outer membrane (OM) tethering protein has a strong defect in OM integrity. Subsequent experimental evolution led to the identification of mutations compensating the strong OM defects observed in the mutant.
One of our current goals is to thoroughly characterize these mutants to have a better understanding of the consequences of such mutations on the cell.
